Second Chance for Romance
by Otaku-works
Summary: BokuxMarikuRyouxMalik yaoi fic rated R for very very mild sex scenes and vulgar language Boku and Mariku run into eachother again after 3 long years. Mariku is in the process of winning over the coldhearted Boku, but then a lot of bad things happen.
1. Chapter 1

This fic was done with a friend who also writes fics that are way good. I have never done this before so constructive criticism would be great, if you wouldn't mind. Okay….here we go.

It was a dark and cold winter's eve. A storm had come and not yet gone. The gentle snowfall blanketed the streets and houses. One unlucky man was out in this cold weather wearing nothing more than a blue tee shirt, black pants, and black converse shoes that were hand-me-downs and well worn. He was running for his life; his pursuer not far behind him. The white-haired male skidded around the corner of the walking path and bolted for a school yard across the street.

In the middle of the yard was a tall well-dressed man making a snowman. The spikey-haired male grabbed a stick he had brought with him, and swung it at the head of the snowy figure, sending the head flying. The strange man brutalized the body of the snowman and laughed maniacly as he did so.

As he turned, the white-haired male collided with him. Both men went flying a few feet before falling into the soft cushion of snow.

"I'm very sorry," the smaller male quickly appologized.

"Watch where the hell you are going," the man hissed, pushing the little one off of himself.

He stood and kicked the smaller male in the chest angrily.

Barreling toward them both, another white-haired figure came. He quickly grabbed the Hikari by the collar of his shirt and lifted him from the ground.

"You little bastard! I'm gonna beat your ass when we get home!" he yelled.

He dropped the smaller male on his feet and took firm grip of his thin arm.

"Let's go, Ryou!"

"Hold on! That little bastard owes me a few hits!" a voice came from behind Ryou and the other.

The already enraged male glared at the unknown man behind him.

"Fuck off! Go make a snowman or something," he hissed.

The sandy-blond took hold of the Hikari's other arm and pulled.

"I need to borrow this."

The brutal white-hair pulled back. The gragile Hikari winced with each jerking and painful movement.

The spikey-haired male snapped and struck down the other, taking control of the Hikari. He laughed victoriously, but then found himself on the ground, his face sore and red.

"When I say fuck off, I mean it!"

It took only a minute for the unknown man to realize who he was dealing with.

"Well, well, well…you escaped the Shadow Realm already?" he taunted.

He sat forward in the snow and wiped away the single spot of blood on his lower lip.

"Its's been three years, Bakura…" he spoke in a dark tone with a grin on his face.

Bakura had once been vitim to a dark being. He was cast into the Shadow Realm to live out the rest of his days, but he had survived and escaped the dark place.

"Do you not know how to greet an old friend?" the sandy blond questioned with a smile.

Bakura struck him down, "Of course I do, you bastard!"

"You are Mariku."

Mariku was the dark being that had trapped Bakura in the darkest of all realms.

"I'm glad you remember me."

Bakura stared into the eyes of his tormentor for the first time in three long years. The purple color beamed from both pools.

He grabbed for his Hikari who was not within grabbing distance. He looked around and saw no sign of him. He turned back to see Mariku examining his little Hikari. The tomb keeper lifted Ryou's chin and looked at him as if looking at an animal.

"What the hell are you doing!?"

Bakura pushed Mariku away from his Hikari.

"He seems much stronger and more energetic."

"Who are you comparing him to?" Bakura inquired, still angry with him.

"My Hikari seems almost lifeless everytime I beat or fuck him. Might I suggest a trade?"

"No you can't!!! Just leave us alone!"


	2. Chapter 2

Bakura angrily stomped away dragging little Ryou close behind. Mariku looked on at Bakura slyly with a certain interest sparking. He decided he was bored with the snowmen and wanted to do something a little more fun. He disappeared in a blur of snow. Next thing, he knew he was in Bakura's front yard; just where he wanted to be.

Slowly he entered the broken down home. There was no light other than the light of the moon shining through a large window in the living room and kitchen. Things were scattered, broken, and torn in every inch of the first floor. The second looked no better. The walls were scratched up and old. There were signs of clawing as if there were a struggle at some point in time.

He heard a faint whimpering noise emitting from a bedroom conveniently placed above the living room.

"Still the same enchanting home it was three years ago." Mariku shook his head in disapproval and sweeped one finger across the mantal in the living room. There wasn't any dust to be found which meant little Ryou was at least good at house keeping. There were now two good qualities in the little Hikari.

"Beating and house-keeping," Mariku thought to himself.

The Tomb Keeper pulled the large armchair forward from its desilate corner and towards the fireplace and lit a fire in a fireplace using what seemed to be his unlimited source of magic. A wine glass; summoned to his leather gloved hand. He tasted the sweet white liquid and smiled thinly and contently. He set the fragile glass aside on a small side table and stared into the intense flames of the burning fire, witnessing the beating of the weak Hikari.

He heared pained screams, and violent words mixed with the extensive use of profanity. Mariku could not help but smile as he did; twisted and evil of course. He took up his glass and drank to the pain he so much loved. From the ceiling, one small drop of crimson fell. It mixed with the pure white of the wine, turning it a vile red color.

The arm chair inched back on its own, removing Mariku from the bloods given path. "How wonderful," he whispered enjoying every sweet moment of the pain the little Hikari was wrongfully receiving.

It was then that the screaming stopped, footsteps danced along the old wooden boards of the floor. The curious tomb robber felt the presence of one more. He stepped out of the room and proceeded down the hallway, stopping short of the tall flight of stairs. A red light danced on the wall at the base of the stairs. Bakura followed it suspiciously, coming to the living area and seeing his favorite armchair moved from its original space in the corner.

The chair turned slowly, the spikey-haired male applauding. "Bravo, what a stunning performance, Bakura," he complimented and continued to applaud.

"What the hell do you want?" Bakura hissed, glaring daggers at the intruding egyptian.

Mariku stood from the armchair and pushed Bakura roughly against the wall. His face was not far from the tomb robber's own. He stared intensly into the dark chocolate eyes of the dangerous man. There, within, he saw a flame burning strongly and deeply like no other he had seen before.

Suddenly, a warmth rushed throughout Mariku's fridged body. It was as if…as if a flame was just barely lit and was now burning within himself as well. This feeling of warmth felt wonderful, no unbelievable. He had never felt such a thing and he didn't' want it to go away.

"What the hell are you looking at?" Bakura sneered with one delicate brow arched high in annoyance and confusion.

Mariku was quiet. He wasn't sure what to say and wasn't quite sure what he was feeling exactly. Bakura only grew more annoyed and aggitated every second they just stood there.

"Get the hell out of my house and leave me alone," Bakura said coldly and as calmly as possible.

Mariku didn't want to be here, at least…not right now.

"Until next we meet." Mariku bowed politely to Bakura and disappeared. "Dumb ass…" Bakura hissed under his breath. He walked upstairs and went to his own room to go to bed.

Mariku was quick to return home. He spied his own Hikari quitely sitting in his room with a exciting novel written by an egyptian author. Mariku entered Malik's room quickly and threw the door closed behind himself. His Hikari looked away from his book.

"Where were you? Bashing snowmen again?" he joked. "Shut up," he spoke angrily.

Malik stood and set his novel aside for later reading. "What's wrong Mariku?" he inquired with a deep look of concern for his Yami.

Mariku was quick in attacking his Hikari, sending him a good blow to the stomach. Malik cried out and fell to the floor and was curled up tightly as pain coursed throughout his body. He was kicked in the groin then picked up and thrown onto the bed. Mariku beat his Hikari to a bloody pulp before leaving to go to bed. He had exhausted himself and obviously his bruised and beaten Hikari. He changed for bed and went to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Mariku awoke to the sight of Malik coming into his bedroom. He had a tray with what was supposed to be breakfast. It was burnt to crisp and smelled horrible. Mariku would have sworn he saw it inch towards him. He refused the meal, having Malik dispose of it. Malik left quietly with the tray and went back to the kitchen. Mariku stood and opened the top dresser drawer. He grabbed a white sleevless hoodie and his favorite black jeans which were accompained by black gold silk boxers and black leather boots. He quickly dressed and left the mansion.

He teleported into Bakura's bedroom and stood next to the window. He was going to wake the tomb robber, but didn't for some reason. Bakura was sprawled out under the sheets of his bed. Mariku saw this as a game somehow. He waved his hand causing the blankets to slide down his slim body a short ways. The tomb robber was wearing nothing more than a pair of black cotton boxers.

"Stupid bastard," Mariku thought to himself. "He has a great body…" Mariku thoroughly enjoyed this sight of him even though he was trying to stop himself.

Bakura's eyes shot open and he leapt from under his sheets on onto Mariku, pinning him to the ground.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" he errupted.

"Good morning, Sunshine. Sleep well?" Mariku jokingly said with a grin gripping to his face.

Bakura rolled his eyes and climbed off of him and walked down to the kitchen with Mariku following like a puppy.

"Didn't I tell you to leave me alone?" Bakura dipped into the fridge to find something edible.

"I don't recall you saying anything like that," Mariku said sarcastically.

Bakura pulled a sandwich from the fridge, that his Hikari had made the day before. He tore at the plastic wrap as if he was opening a gift.

"Then I will repeat myself. Get the hell out," Bakura said coldly.

Mariku laughed in his face. Bakura arched a brow as he bit into the big sandwich. "What the hell is your problem? Are you a nutcase?"

The sandy-blond laughed all the way to the main hallway. Bakura put his sandwich down on the work surface and followed out into the hallway where Mariku was leaning against the wall, his laughter already dying away.

"I'm not going anywhere," Mariku said in a powerful tone.

"Fine, whatever. I'll just leave you to do whatever it is you do." Bakura turned to the stairs and started up to the bathroom. Suddenly, a cool draft came to him. He peered down to see his boxers on the ground. Mariku was laughing himself mad.

"Ha ha, this is all shits and giggles," Bakura's voice was heavy with sarcasm. He grabbed up his boxers and brought them back up around his hips where they belonged. He was obviously not amused, unlike Mariku who was dying of laughter. He stomped upstairs to take a much needed shower.

Little Ryou came downstairs a few minutes later only to come face-to-face with Mariku. The tomb keeper threw him to the ground and began beating him, seeing this as the ultimate pass time.

Bakura was showering when he felt a burning sensation coursing through his body. He got out quickly and ran downstairs with a towel drapped around his waist. He saw the sandy-blond hovering over the Hikari and quickly shoved him against the wall.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?"

Mariku smirked and pushed Bakura aside. "I'm just passing away the time," he simply replied.

"Don't' touch my fucking Hikari," he gave warning.

Ryou fled from the hallway and ran to his bedroom where he assumed he was safe. Bakura glared at the other egyptian intensly. Mariku looked over his body. He was only one towel-drop away from being completely bare. He turned his thoughts from Bakura's perfect body. "Answer me this, tomb robber," a thought began. "Why are you so protective of him, when you yourself beat him?" He circled the other with intrigue.

"Because…"

Mariku leaned in towards his ear and whisper,"I will eventually find out…just watch."

Bakura's expression did not change from what it was; cold as steel and fierce. The white haired boy quickly turned and struck the other egyptian. "I want you out of my house." Mariku stood. His cool and calm expression had gone. His once purple eyes were now that of blood red. The walls of the house began to close in on them both. Things fell from their designated places, and the furniture moved from its original position. Bakura was not phazed by any of this. Mariku calmed his rage. The items returned to their original places.

"Was that supposed to scare me?" Bakura inquired in the same arrogant tone. Mariku smirked. He stepped into the living room. Bakura peered into the room. There stood Mariku with the little Hikari in his grip. Bakura's eyes narrowed. Mariku waved politely and disappeared. Bakura ran into the room in an absolute panic. "Bring back my fucking Hikari!" he screamed. Quickly he ran to get dressed and then shot out of his house and towards Mariku's mansion.


	4. Chapter 4

The mansion Mariku had created, with his powerful magic, was painted white with a gold frame on all of the windows. There were three floors, two hundred rooms, all decorated with the same theme in mind; Egyptian. Bakura approached the towering house and reached out for the handle of the double doors. It opened without struggle.

He began his search on the first floor and opened the first closed door. "Ryou?" he looked into the room. It was only a guest room and it was empty. He continued his search of the first floor and came up empty handed. He continued on to the next floor, again he found nothing more than a bunch of Egyptian themed rooms that were all the same. He was becoming annoyed and weary of searching for his Hikari, but decided to just press on.

On the third floor he found one difference. Along the walls he found items that were actually egyptian artifacts and not just cheap copies. He cautiously walked down the hallway looking into each room as he went. He came to the end of the long corridor and found himself staring at another set of double doors. The doors were painted gold and marked with actual hyroglyphics. He didn't hesitate to break into the room. He found Mariku asleep in his well-decorated bed.

The sheets and pillows were as gold as everything else in the mansion, no surprise.

Mariku sat up and stared with a huge smile stuck to his face. Bakura bolted towards the bed and angrily attacked Mariku. The tomb keeper took every blow as if it were nothing at all. The blows were minor and tickled more than hurt. He teleported himself to the end of the bed and out of Bakura's way.

"Where the hell is my Hikari, Mariku!?"

"He's just hanging around," The sandy-blond replied, laughing to himself.

He stood and walked over to his body-length mirror and looked at his slim figure.

"Mariku-!"

"Listen you little bastard. We need to talk," Mariku interrupted.

He appeared behind Bakura and held the dangerous robber's hands behind his back forcing him to lay chest down on the bed. He struggled as much as possible, but he couldn't escape Mariku's strong grip.

Mariku leaned down and gently kissed the other's neck, unaware for a moment that he was doing this. Bakura's eyes widened. This was not what he was expecting. He rolled over forcing Mariku onto his back in the sea of gold silk. He pulled free and pinned Mariku's arms and legs with his own limbs.

"No more playing around! Where is Ryou?!"

Mariku smiled and snickered. He teleported himself to the ceiling. Beside him, the Hikari was bound in ropes and gagged. His alabaster skin was tear-stained and a slight reddish color from being suspended from the tall ceiling. The tomb keeper knelt down beside him and grabbed his face roughly, forcing the Hikari to look at him directly.

"Such a fragile creature…"

Bakura was shaking furiously with the rage building up inside. "Don't touch him!: he yelled at Mariku.

"He's as fragile as our situation…"

Bakura arched a brow in confusion. "Our situation?" Mariku looked down at him slyly with a thin smile on his face. "Let me get to the point-"

"Please do," Bakura hissed.

"So impatient. Well-"

"Stop stalling, Mariku!" Bakura again interrupted.

"Fine, I have this passion for you which I feel must be expressed," he simply explained. "You've expressed your feelings, now release my Hikari." Bakura hissed as he ignored everything Mariku had said.

Mariku snapped his fingers. Ryou instantly dropped from the ceiling, his eyes were wide and he wanted to scream even though he was gagged. Bakura was quick and easily caught his Hikari in mid-air. Mariku dropped down from the ceiling and landed on the large, soft bed. He was laughing in enjoyment. Bakura set Ryou aside, against the wall.

Mariku rose from his bed slowly and approached Bakura who had his fists up and was ready to rumble. The sandy-blond took the robber by the collar of his shirt and pulled him into the beginning of a passionate kiss. Bakura quickly pushed himaway. He was absolutely disgusted.

"I don't exactly understand it myself, but I need you to understand," he whispered softly. Bakura looked back at his Hikari and then turned a glare in Mariku's direction. "What the hell will make you leave us alone? Sex? Is that what you want?"

"I don't just want a one-night stand. I want the real thing. I just want you," he replied calmly.

Bakura was growing weary of fighting with him. He padded over to the bed and fell back onto the ruffled sheets. Mariku followed him and leaned over him. His purple pools met that of the dark chocolate. Bakura rolled his eyes before quickly seizing Mariku's lips in a rough, but wonderful kiss, then he flipped him over so that Mariku was laying on the warm bedsheets. There lips were still pressed to eachothers. Bakura slowly pulled away. "First, send my Hikari home…"he said in a deep and quiet voice. "No," Mariku whispered and attempted to regain the other's lips. Bakura leaned up and sat back on the bed.

"Well then…nevermind," he crossed his arms and shrugged. Mariku shot up quickly and looked at him unkindly. "What do you mean 'never mind'!?" he hissed at Bakura. "Well, if you don't send my Hikari home, you won't get much attention from me," he said almost truthfully. Mariku glanced over at the fragile male and snapped his fingers sending him to another room in the mansion.

Bakura sighed and looked up at Mariku. "We both know you didn't just send him home just like that," Bakura said in a hot and tempting voice. Mariku rolled his purple orbs and snapped his fingers for a second time sending the Hikari home.

"What do I get from you then?" Mariku smirked. Bakura had a thoughtful look. Mariku layed back on the bed to wait for him. The tomb robber slowly leaned over him again, regretting everything he was about to do. Their lips met again. Bakura's lips were surprisingly soft to the touch. Mariku flipped Bakura onto his back and began unbuttoning the other's shirt while kissing his neck with deep passion behind it. Bakura did nothing to stop him even though he didn't want to go through with this.

"You could at least enjoy this…" Mariku whispered in Bakura's ear as he continued to suck on his neck. "I'm letting you fuck me…isn't that enough?"

Mariku stopped all together. "Damn it…" he quietly cursed before getting up off of Bakura.


	5. Chapter 5

Hello all of you wonderful reviewers! Thank you for the wonderful reviews I received regaurding this fanfic! I feel all fuzzy inside, jk. Anyhoo, there was something I wanted to mention before continuing on. I don't want to lose anyone with what is happening. Throughout the fic, Mariku's emotions go a little crazy. Sometimes he acts a little too nice, or he's angry, its like he has multiple personalities or something. Its just this whole love thing that is screwing with his emotions. I just thought you would like to know. Peace, love, and padded walls!

Mariku walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind. He put his fist through the tan colored wall adjacent to the bedroom door.

Bakura layed back and put both hands behind his head. Mariku removed his clenched fist from the wall and walked back into the warm bedroom. Bakura closed his eyes and waited for round two to begin. Mariku slowly approached.

His clenched fist met with Bakura's bare stomach. Bakura balled up in pain.

"What the hell was that for!?"

"For ruining everything!" Mariku retorted.

"You are the one to blame, you stupid bastard!" Bakura shot back.

The white-haired egyptian stood from the bed and buttoned his shirt up missing a few buttons, but not caring right now. "I'm leaving now-" Two fingers snapped. The door shut and locked itself. "I was fully prepared to fuck you, and you don't fucking care!" Mariku yelled. "Why should I care about a piece of shit who screws everything over?" Bakura combed his fingers through his entangled tendrils to separate the mess that was his hair.

"You really piss me off. You messed up my fucking life, and you continue to bother me and not leave me the hell alone!" Bakura found himself yelling.

Mariku lashed out at Bakura with the still clenched fist. "Would you stop beating the shit out of me!?" Bakura again yelled. Mariku threw him to the ground and pinned him down. "No!"

"You are so fucking annoying!" Bakura screamed and struggled. The tomb keeper kissed Bakura again, but for a shorter while. He teleported himself to the tall ceiling where he sat in a huff. "You're such a damn baby…" Bakura mumbled.

"Shut up…"

"No wonder I hate you…you are a baby, just like my Hikari…" Bakura stood and walked towards the door. Mariku appeared before him in a flash and again struck him, knocking him again to the floor. "Don't ever compare me to a Hikari…especially yours," Mariku hissed.

"It's the truth, Mariku. You are weak and useless…" Bakura continued to taunt.

"Shut up!" Mariku growled. He wrapped his hands around Bakura's neck in a fit of rage in an attempt to choke him. Bakura kicked Mariku in the groin. The blow caused him to release the robber's neck and fall to the ground in obvious pain. "Damn…you…."Mariku cursed through his pain.

Bakura stood from the floor and dusted his shirt off as if something were actually there. He bent down next to Mariku and looked at him crossly. "Stop acting like an ass and just leave me alone." He turned and was gone from the master bedroom. Mariku couldn't help but feel hatred towards Bakura and Ryou.

"This is all of his fault," Mariku thought to himself. He teleported himself to Bakura's wreck of a house and searched out the hiding Hikari. Ryou was in his room cowering in the far corner to the right near a fogged up window. Mariku approached him slowly looking quite angry for some reason unknown to the Hikari. The sandy-blond attacked him, turning him into a bloody pulp.

"This is all your fault, you little bastard!" Mariku accused in a raised tone. He stood and brutally kicked the white haired male who was balled up with his arms over his head. "He only cares for you!" Mariku continued to vent. Ryou's eyes flooded with tears of pain that streamed down his thin face and plummeted to the blood stained carpet.

Through the bond Bakura shared with Ryou, he could feel the pain of the helpless Hikari. "Damn him…" he cursed as he picked up his pace and was now running towards his home.

Mariku leaned back with the shaking Hikari in his arms held tightly to his chest. He himself was shedding a few tears of his own. Bakura threw the front door open and bolted upstairs. He managed to tear the beaten boy from Mariku's arms and set him aside carefully.

With his newfound anger, he began beating Mariku like he had never beaten anyone in his life. Mariku curled up as the pain he was being dealt was now more real and strongly felt.

"Don't you ever touch my Hikari!" The enraged robber yelled at Mariku, still throwing his share of punches. Mariku felt sick to his stomach and was feeling a little dizzy as well. "He's all I fucking have! He's my Hikari damn it!" Bakura continued to vent his own anger towards the other egyptian.

The tomb keeper's body had gone limp and he had fallen unconscious. He later awoke in a warm bed. A blurred figure was sitting nearby, calling his name as he was coming to. His vision cleared revealing his own worried Hikari looming over him. "What do you want?" the groggy male inquired.

"You're awake!" Malik exclaimed with relief flooding over him.

"Big deal…" Mariku looked away from Malik and sighed deeply.

"Don't say that, Mariku…" Malik knelt down my the bed in an adorable way and looked at Mariku. "Do you want to beat me?"

"No…I'm not in the mood."

Malik's eyes widened in surprise. Mariku didn't want to beat him? He was not in the mood? Malik found this all hard to believe. "I just want….Bakura…" Mariku thought to himself. "He deserves to be beaten…or at least shot." The keeper thought aloud this time. For the first time ever, Malik smacked his violent yami across the face without truly thinking. "Just leave them alone! They obviously don't want to be bothered and you should respect their wishes!" Malik continued.

"So…you are there side?" Mariku questioned while glaring at his Hikari. Malik didn't know what to say and if he did what should he say or not say in the presence of his yami. Mariku back-handed the smaller male. He stood, preparing his fist to strike again, but stopped. He had a thougth of a way to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. An evil smirk graced Mariku with its presence.

Bakura had just gotten into the shower, making things all too easy for Mariku. He was vulnerable and just happened to be without clothing which was merely a bonus. The tomb keeper entered the shower without Bakura's notice. His clothing was drenched and sticking to his firm body. The view was not bad from behind, but he had other things on his agenda that had to be done first.

Bakura had finally taken notice of his presence, but continued his shower regardless. He didn't care that Mariku was staring at his perfected body.

"Haven't you fucked my life up enough for one day?" Bakura calmly spoke.

Mariku's purple orbs narrowed. He pushed Bakura against the wall fo the shower, holding Bakura there. His eyes were filled with a passionate hate towards him. He reached down for the knobs of the shower turning off the cold water completely and turning the hot water on full blast.

The temperature quickly rose to that of what boiling water would be. Bakura was pushed into the heated water and held there. The robber was quietly controlling himself as the sensation of pain coursed through his body. He wanted to scream bloody murder. Bakura finally had his fill and pushed Mariku back so that he could escape the scolding water.

"By all rights I should kill you Bakura…." Mariku threatened.

"Then quit stalling," he said impatiently.

If this was how he was to die, it was to be done quickly. Mariku did not take any action. Instead, he disapeared, dropping Bakura into the bottom of the bathtub, leaving him unconscious. He felt horrible for what he had done. He returned home to grab his coat then took a short walk to the school yard near his luxurious mansion.

He took the time to build snowmen physically identical to the robber and his Hikari. He stared deeply into the charcoal eyes of the taller snowman, which was supposed to be Bakura. "You brought this on yourself. You just needed a reminder of who you are dealing with…." Mariku muttered. He paced back and forth, continually staring at the Boku snowman.

"I wish your Hikari would disappear and-" Mariku paused as a twisted plan ran through his mind. He leapt high into the air and kicked the head of the Ryou snowman cleanly off. He landed like a cat and was smirking. He teleported back to Bakura's house, and up to Ryou's bedroom once again. The small bruised male was quitely combing his snowy white tendrils.

"We need to talk," the egyptians voice sounded from behind the fragile boy. Ryou turned to see Mariku standing near the door so he couldn't escape. Mariku backed Ryou into a dark corner of his room.

"Wh-What are you doing here, Mariku?" the smaller male quivered in fear.

"I need to appologize…" he whispered.

Ryou was a little shocked that the tough yami was appologizing. Mariku leaned in a little closer to him. "I'm sorry you won't be around later…" he continued. Ryou looked confused by the comment the yami had just made. Behind him a dark portal stirred to wake. "Allow me," Mariku smirked in his own twisted way just for Ryou before pushing him into the black portal and sealing him away in the shadow realm. He a disappeared with the twisted smile still in play.


	6. Chapter 6

Hello, hello! Thanks you so much for the wonderful reviews. I loves you all for it! I did get one review that showed a little confusion about how Mariku knew Bakura. Well, if you have seen the show, I do believe there was one or two episodes where Malik and Bakura were working together in a duel against Yami on Kaiba's blimp. It gotten take from that relationship only switched around slightly. Here's in the next chapter and thank you for reading.

Bakura was slumped over in the base of tub with the scolding water still gushing from the shower head. He turned off the water and stepped out of the shower and grabbed for a towel. He slowly swayed to one side and then the other. He leaned against the wall for support. His head was hurting and all of the sudden he felt light-heated. Bakura felt that something was wrong and did his best to hurry and get dressed.

As he dressed, he looked to his left and saw his slim figure in an elongated mirror clinging to the wall. He turned slightly and saw the lightly pink burn marks he had received not long ago, no thanks to Mariku. He shook off the thought of the other egyptian and continued to dress himself.

Casually he walked to the sandy-blond's luxurious mansion. He entered through the back gates of the surrounding wall and ascended the altitudinous staircase to the deck. He crept into the house through the unlocked glass doors, then headed for Mariku's room on the third floor at the end of the corridor.

Slowly he entered softly trying closing the door so as not to make noise. "I thought you would never come…" Mariku whispered. In the brightly lit right corner of his room, there was a red lovesac and Mariku was sitting in it comfortably. With the door now slightly ajar, Bakura slammed it shut not caring now that he had been seen.

"Where is my Hikari?"

Mariku stood from the large red lovesac. He approached the white-haired egyptian very slowly then wrapped his arms around Bakura's thin waist. "What are you talking about? What Hikari?" Mariku said, faking his innocense and failing. His games only encouraged Bakura's irrational actions.

Bakura too Mariku by the arm and flipped him over his shoulder (it's a karate thing, I think) and to the ground. He began kicking and hitting him as ruthlessly as possible. Mariku could feel a difference in his strength. He seems so much weaker than he ever had.

Little Malik heard the ruckuss and walked into the room to see what was wrong. He saw Bakura trying to brutally beat his Yami and took action. He leapt onto Bakura's back and started yanking on his long white hair. "Get off of Mariku!"

"Get the hell off! This doesn't concern you!" Bakura backed up hard against the wall, knocking Malik off. Bakura glared at Malik then at Mariku who was staring at him in deep thought. "I now hate you more than I have hated anyone in my life…" Bakura quietly said as he tore out of the room and left for the downstairs. It suddenly struck him that Ryou was not in this realm, but in the Shadow Realm. (This was through their physical bond.) He stopped in his tracks and tore open a portal to the Shadow Realm and entered without second thought. He was engulfed by the realm's deepening darkness.

Malik and been dismissed from the room and Mariku was still on the floor, sitting up now, but thinking none the less about Bakura's newfound weakness. "Something is wrong. Why was he so weak," Mariku first questioned in his thoughts. "It couldn't have been from when we were in the shower…a little hot water doesn't do that," he continued. "Could it be…? Is it his Hikari?" Mariku stood and paced back and forth thinking that he was beginning to understand. "He is still connected to his Hikari, unlike me. I seperated that link after I banished him to the Shadow Realm…shit…" he spoke aloud with the a curse word as the end of his sentence.

The fog was low and to the ground. It was dark, not a trace of light shown anywhere. Ghostly noises could be heard from everywhere, it was enough to drive a man mad in just a short while. Bakura had begun his search for the missing other. "Ryou! You little boy-bitch! Where are you!?" he called out as he glanced around the area. By now, Mariku had figured it out, being the smart person he is, and had already gone to the Hikari to make sure he stayed alive. He patiently waited for Bakura to come and find him and Ryou.

The tomb robber came into the area and saw Mariku sitting on a risen tomb stone with his back turned to him. Mariku looked back at Bakura and held up the weak Hikari. He threw him roughly at Bakura, knocking him to the ground.

Bakura slowly sat up with an expression of pain on his face. He looked down at Ryou who was splayed across his torso horizontally. "Ryou!?" he cried out carefully moving Ryou into a better position.

Mariku glanced away from him and shook his head slowly. "I feel sorry for you…you are still one with him." He jumped down from the stone. "Without him, you wouldn't be existant." He continued. He tore open the portal once again and was gone. Ryou moaned. He was as weak as Bakura, possibly even more. Bakura carried him out of the Shadow Realm and took him home where he could properly be taken care of and put to bed.

After Bakura had settled his Hikari into his designated bed, he stared at him a for a moment and sighed. "What a pain in the ass. You always get into trouble…and then I have to save you whether I want to or not," Bakura said not too loudly. He left the room deciding a little pain was needed right now. He padded down to the kitchen. He whipped out his favorite pocket knife and began carving into the flesh of his arm. The wonderful crimson streamed down his lightly colored skin. A sensation of relief flooded over him.


	7. Chapter 7

Konban wa! Okay, here's the deal. I rewrote this chapter (in my little purple note book) tonight and got it all typed up and ready for viewing. Since its late, I am not thinking, which means it may be confusing. I really hope it isn't. Reviewif you want because I need all the help I can get. Thanks for reading this far everyone! I hope you somewhat enjoy this chapter!

Mariku had just returned to the comfort of his master bedroom. He saw down in his sizable red lovesac with a glass of Yellow Tail chardonnay. He looked at the vase of white roses sitting peacefully on his nightstand. In a quick fit of rage, he hurled the full wine glass at the wall adjacent to himself. The glass shattered and the carpet was drenched with its contents.

"What the hell was I thinking!?" he yelled at himself. He leaned his head back on the lovesac and took a few good breaths. "If I rid myself of Ryou, I rid myself of Bakura as well." He thought aloud. "I shoud have killed them both when I had the chance…."

Flashback

The two Yami's and Hikari's were standing at opposite ends of a small alley. "Bakura, you failed to take orders and destroy the pharaoh; you and that embarrassment you call your Hikari." Mariku sneered. Bakura pulled a pocket knife from his shirt pocket and released the sharp steel. "Why don't you come say that to my face you overbearing ass!" Bakura insulted. Mariku summoned a sword for himself and held it out towards Bakura. They bore down upon eachother at full speed. Their weapons clashed at the middle. The two Hikari's watched in horror as blood spurted from the fresh wounds of their Yami's.

Bakura was thrown to the ground and pinned by his opponent. The cold steel of Mariku's sword hovered next to his bare neck. The rain broke free of the dark clouds slowly passing above. The Yami's and Hikari's were drenched in its purity. Malik and Ryou were both on the verge of tears. "Mariku, don't do it!" Malik burst.

Mariku's eyes were filled with rage and the want to kill, but the restraint of his Hikari was making it highly impossible to kill the tomb robber. His eyes softened from a cold glared to an emotionless stare. "Fine," he whispered. He ran the tip of the blade across the ground next to Bakura, tearing open a portal to the Shadow Realm below them both. Mariku leapt off of Bakura and watched him plummet into the darkness. The doorway between the two realms closed and the ground was solid once again.

Ryou had already fled not wanting to meet the same fate as his poor Yami. Mariku looked around and saw no sign of Ryou. He wanted to find him and kill him, but Malik wouldn't allow it.

That was the same day the bond between Mariku and Malik was severed for good.

Flashback Over

Mariku had always had regrets about allowing Bakura to live, but that was then. It was time he got over that. What mattered now was the fact that he was unable to finish Bakura off.

Bakura dropped to his knees. The pain he was administering to himself felt absolutely wonderful. He felt so relieved and calm now.

Mariku stood from the lovesac and opened his closet. Off to the far right was an assortment of colored trench coats. There was purple, red, white, black, blue, and even pink(lol). He grabbed for the red trench coat and walked instead of teleporting to Bakura's house. He needed a few minutes to think before bitching at Bakura. He psyched himself up and entered the unkept house forcefully, doing the same when he had come to Ryou's bedroom.

The door was thrown open and Ryou was seen reading in his ragged armchair. Ryou glanced away from his book. The sandy-blond lifted him by the collar of his shirt. "Where is Bakura," Mariku said in an angry tone. "Downstairs," Ryou simply replied.

Ryou was dropped back into his chair and the tomb keeper turned and exited the room with his trench coat flowing behind him. He made his way downstairs and down the corridor. He paused at the opening of two rooms, the living room and the kitchen. He glanced into each and saw a glimpse of Bakura in the doorway of the kitchen. He walked in and saw Bakura on the ground with his back towards the doorway.

"I hate you, you bastard!" Mariku was able to shout since he was psyched just for this. "Good, maybe then you might fuck off and leave me to live my damn life." Bakura replied in a dulled tone. "You…I…" he paused finding himselfat a loss for words. "That's impossible…"

Bakura stood and turned to face him. His eyes burned with hatred and pain. Mariku lowered his eyes and noticed a developing pool of Bakura's blood on the kitchen tile. The tomb robber turned away and grabbed a medical kit from one of the cabinets. He sat down to the table in the dining room and rummaged around in search of a long bandage. Mariku pulled the bag away and found a bandage then he took hold of Bakura's arm. The blood from his wounds stained Mariku's hands. He wrapped the wound nicely and tied it off at the top.

"If you knew how I felt…you would know how badly I want to forget you, but the feelings I have for you won't dispell…." Bakura looked down at his arm angrily and tore the bandage off. He tossed it to the ground and glared at it for a moment. Mariku aggravatedly grabbed the fresh wound and dug his nails into it. Bakura stayed strong refusing to show any pain or weakness. He didn'twince or cry outeven thoughhe so badly wanted to. Mariku sighed and released his grip. Both blood-stained hands fell to his sides.

"I don't even want to hurt you anymore…." Marikurealized. "You should get over that," Bakura commented. "I'm done…"Mariku whispered in defeat. He entered the kitchen area and knelt down to pick up where Bakura had left off with the knife.

Bakura took theweapon and pulled Mariku to his feet, bringing him into a tender kiss. One of Mariku's hands found its way to Bakura's injured arm. He used a little magic to heal the wound. Bakura could feel the healing of his arm and slowly pulled back, releasing the other's lips. His eyes were filled to the brink with mixed emotions.

Mariku was quick to disappear. He felt quite embarrassed for acting the way he did. Bakura went to his room and gently closed his door. He fell back on the large bed and spread his arms out across the sea of black material. "Why the hell did I do that?" he questioned himself aloud.

Mariku too went to his own room and fell back amongst the gold material of his bed. "Why the hell did he do that?" He stripped off his trench coat and black shirt, tossing them aside. He stared up at the ceiling as he pondered Bakura's actions.

Bakura turned on the radio resting on the floor near the head of his bed. He listened and let the harsh music sink in.

Mariku looked at the vase of white roses and sat up. He picked one out and stared at it for a moment before watching it disappear from his hand. The delicate white flower made its appearance in Bakura's hand. He set it down on his pillow and drifted off to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Hello all of you wonderful readers. I am so ticked that I haven't been able to work on this story lately, but I finally got this one chapter typed up with no problems or interruptions. Anyway, I am trying to be a lot better about keeping you all happy. I can't thank you enough for reading, reviewing and most of all, being patient with me! I hope maybe you find this chapter as appealing as the others. Peace, love, and padded walls! giggles I love saying that….

The dark egyptian's mind had dwelled upon the thought of the passionate kiss he shared with the other egyptian for quite some time now. His stomach was uneasy, but in a good way. He had so much to think about. Downstairs there were loud crashing noises omitting from the kitchen two floors below. This meant that Malik was attempting once again to cook. It would most likely end up burnt and so would he. Mariku couldn't help, but smile just the slightest.

However, Mariku needed a quiet place to think, so he put on a long sleeved crème shirt, then left the mansion without Malik knowing. A few minutes later, the crisped Hikari went to Mariku's room to present him with something that looked like scrambled eggs and toast. He knocked a few times, then actually walked in. He searched the room with his light purple orbs, but to his surprise his Yami had left without saying anything. With what was going on between him and Bakura it was cause for worry to Malik.

It was then that he spotted a few blood-stained articles of Mariku's clothing, namely the red trench coat and black shirt Mariku had tossed aside earlier. Malik looked at the clothing and started to freak out. All sorts of terrible thoughts were running through his mind. "Mariku…"

Bakura awoke slowly, laying on his side, and found himself looking directly at the rose which was now occupying a clear glass of water. Ryou must have brought it up while he had been asleep. He sighed and rolled over onto his other side wanting to not think about anything that had happened between himself and Mariku, just ignore the issue altogether. He climbed out of bed and put on one of his many black tee shirts. His thin, lengthy fingers danced through his entangled tendrils in an attempt to sort them out.

He finally realized he was in dire need of a time to himself so he could think about everything that was going wrong or right in his life. He put on his leather boots and grabbed his black trench coat before he departed from the gloomy house.

The air was artic and uninviting, but Bakura ignored it all. His mind was trapped in other thoughts. The panicking Malik had run by just momenst ago. Malik had to skidded down the hill to the school yard to see if Mariku had gone there. Instead he found a pile of broken snowmen. Malik slipped and slid as he climbed back up the hill and scurried frantically down the sidewalk.

He ran out into the middle of the street to see if he could see Mariku from there. (Kinda stupid if you ask me, but you can't blame him) Malik turned his back to an oncoming car that he hadn't noticed just turned the corner. Bakura snapped out of his deep train of thought in time to sight the oncoming vehicle.

"Damn idiot…" Bakura said in an annoyed tone. He bolted out into the road and pushed the Hikari into the snow on the other side of the road, following him into the white powder.

Malik was laying on his left side and shaking in a most frightened manner. His arms were set over his face to somehow protect himself from who he thought was an attacker. The Hikari peeked through his fingers and saw Bakura groaning and leaning up slowly beside him. "Oh, its just you Bakura," he said with a sigh of relief that followed.

He too sat up and shook off the fine powder. "Why did you push me?" He questioned not quite sure why the male had been so rude as to push him. "You really need to pay more attention to where you are going," Bakura replied aggitatedly. "What the hell were you doing standing out in the middle of the road?"

Malik paused and lowered his head in a sad sort of way. "Mariku has gone missing…I've been searching for him." Bakura stood and paced away not caring and angry at this point. Malik jumped up and ran up behind him. "Thank you, Bakura."

"Spare me, I didn't have to do anything," he retorted. "I'm sorry, " Malik said in a quiet and apologetic tone. Bakura turned and glowered at him in an annoyed way. Malik ignored the evil glare he was being given and looked deeply within the dark chocolate eyes Mariku loved so much.

Bakura broke the eye contact between them and turned his back again. "Why don't you run along and play with your little imaginary buddy or something…" He again took up his slow pace that was taking him in no certain direction. Malik caught up to him once again. "Bakura," he called as he was lagging behind.

Bakura picked up his pace to get away from the annoying little male. "What the hell do you want from me?" He said coldly and annoyed. "Please help me find Mariku. I can't find him by myself."

"Then look harder."

"I have been for the past hour!"

Bakura came to a hault and looked back at the persistant male. "If I do, will you tell him to leave me the hell alone?" Malik sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "See, here's the thing. I"ve tried that already." He lied through his teeth, desperate to find his missing yami.

Bakura badly wanted to shut the Hikari up and helping him in his search was probably the only way he could achieve this. "Fine, I'll help you find your dumbass Yami…." He grumbled.

"Thank you!" Malik said as he wrapped his arms around Bakura's waist in an excited and grateful way. Bakura quickly pushed him off. "That doesn't mean you can fucking touch me." The smaller one appologized quickly. The two split up, going in opposite directions of eachother. Malik walked towards his neighborhood, and Bakura towards the park.

The chocolate eyed egyptian arrived there not long after. He expended little effort in finding the missing egyptian. Casually he looked around as he strolled down the walkway. Up ahead he noticed a dark figure sprawled out deep in the fallen snow. He instantly recognized the spiked hair belonging to the lunatic wanting to be his lover.

He left the path and trudged through the snow to where Mariku was just laying face down in the snow. The egyptians clothing was drenched in his own precious crimson. Bakura nudged him with his boot but was given no response. He glanced around and saw tracks and blood in the snow leading off in another direction. "Hmm…." He nudged him again. "Why don't you just get up and go home? Malik has been freaking out all over the place and its becoming annoying."

Mariku moaned softly with the snow drowning out most of the sound. His breathing was much heavier than normal, but it was consistant. Bakura knelt down beside him and gently flipped him over on his back. He had been pummeled and probably violated by the way his clothing was messed up and torn. His skin was discolored with bruises and stained with blood. The sight of Mariku this way was a unappealing sight for even Bakura to see.

"I thought you were an all-powerful being…and here I find you face down in the snow, " Bakura taunted enjoying every minute of this. "I…thought they would…have the brains to kill me…" Mariku uttered in a raspy tone. "Smart move, well…they didn't." Mariku closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. "Shut up…." He hissed.


	9. Chapter 9

Haha! Look at me! Another chapter in record time! This is so much fun all of a sudden! I hope you continue to RxR because I love reading the responses I am getting! If Megan is reading these she should be loving this as well! Peace, love, and padded walls!

Little Malik had wandered into the park to find Bakura. The tomb robber had to have had more luck than he was. He looked ahead and spotted the thief knelt down next to his thrashed Yami (gasp) who was laying on his back with his purple orbs clasped shut and his breathing heavy.

Malik was unsure of what was happening, but he couldn't just stand and stare while Bakura hovered over his helpless Yami. He acted out without thinking and pushed the thief away. "You didn't have to beat him!" Malik blurted angrily as he gently touched Mariku's chest frenetically. It was obvious he had gotten the wrong idea by the way Bakura had been found just sitting there in the snow near Mariku.

"Bullshit, like I would thrash him for no reason," Bakura sneered. He watched tears form in the Hikari's broadened eyes. He knew that none of this was getting through to him. "Its just like you to do this to someone, Bakura!" he snapped back childishly.

Malik pulled Mariku close to his chest and released the tears that had built up in his eyes. "Stop hurting him!" He cried out. Bakura stood from the snow and turned away from the Mariku and Malik. "Fine…" He swept the snow from his black trench coat. "But you should know that it wasn't me. I wouldn't do this to him…" The weary tomb robber walked off and left Malik and Mariku in the crimson snow.

Malik had trouble, but he was able to pull Mariku onto his back and carry him home to the luxurious mansion. When they arrived home, a warm bath was drawn for Mariku to warm his frigid body and to wash away the blood stains that discolored his pale skin.

Afterwards, Malik bandaged all of Mariku's cleaned wounds whether they be tiny or immense in size. The Hikari had managed to dress his Yami in black boxers, white pajama pants, and a black tee shirt. All were made of silk which would make it more comfortable for Mariku. Once the sandy-blond was in bed, Malik quickly took his temperature to make sure he was all right before leaving him to rest.

Bakura came home to the sight of Ryou up on a ladder and cleaning. The job was nearly complete. Things were properly placed, spotless, and the house smelled of lemons and oranges. The strong scent was giving Bakura an awful headache already and he had just barely stepped in. Ryou climbed down from the ladder and wiped away a few drops of sweat streaming down off of his forehead. He was smiling and in the best of moods. "What the hell are you so happy about?" He inquired of the cheerful other. "Nothing, just happy today." Bakura removed his trench coat and handed it off to Ryou, who was baffled by the few bloodstains on the sleeves. He didn't bother asking what had happened and went to the laundry room to see if he could remove these stains.

Bakura dragged his heavy feet up the tall staircase and turned into his room. He collapsed onto his bed face first and took a deep breath, then releasing it along with his anger.

Mariku had awoken not long after Malik had left the master bedroom. He slid quietly out of his bed and hobbled over to his open window. It had begun snowing once again. The moon enhanced the beauty of the falling snow.

Bakura lifted his head from his sheets and looked out the window to see the snow falling. However, the snow was not the first thought on his mind. It was the way Malik looked at him. Also, the way Malik had accused him of injuring the sandy-blond. "That stupid Hikari, he doesn't know a damn thing….I wouldn't do such a thing to Mariku….Only if he came at me first," Bakura thought to himself.

In front of the brooding male, who was sprawled out on his bed with his face down in the sea of black silk, two purple orbs beamed from the shadows of a dark corner near the window. "Why were you in the park?" a voice whispered from behind.

"Your damn Hikari bugged me to help find you, Mariku," the robber replied softly.

"Could I ask you something, Bakura?"

The white-haired male arched a brow and looked forward into the dark corner. The fragile egyptian stepped half way out of the shadows and into the light of the moon beaming through the window. "What is it now?"

"Why did you kiss me?" Bakura's chocolate eyes focused on the rose sitting on his nightstand. "Does it really matter what I do or what I don't do?"

"Yes…" Bakura sat up and focused on Mariku this time. "Why?"

"I thought I had you completely figured you out. I thought that it could never happen between us-"

"What the hell are you babbling about?" Bakura interrupted. Bakura stood and gently pinned Mariku against the wall. His body was almost against Mariku's, and his face was not far off either.

"Because I damn well felt like kissing you. Do you have a problem with that?" He shifted one hand slightly which caused Mariku to flinch. Bakura rolled his eyes and a thin smile graced his deliciously soft lips(drooling). "I'm not going to hit you. Stop acting like that."

Mariku looked away and didn't dare look back. "Well, I have the answer I came for…I think. I should be go-" Bakura grabbed Mariku's face gently and forced the sandy-blond to look at him.

Bakura looked deeply into his eyes as he inched closer to the others lips. He kissed him furiously and passionately. Mariku's hands found their way to Bakura's wrists and gripped gently. The thief pulled back slowly and again fixed his eyes upon Mariku's softened features.

"Because I damn well feel like it…" Bakura repeated in a whisper. "O..Okay," Mariku stammered and blushed lighlty.


	10. Chapter 10

I am so pleased with how well this is going! I am also pleased that I finally got to talk to the other writer of this story, Megan. It's been ages since we last talked. She's a kewl chic and I am having fun writing this with her just so she knows because I know she is going to read this chapter some time soon. Well, here is the next chapter and I hope you enjoy. Just so you know, we are getting closer to my favorite part of the story (personally). Peace, love, and padded walls!

Bakura released Mariku's arms and returned to the comfort of his bed. He flicked his long, white tendrils from his face. Mariku was enamored and beaming like never before. He craved another passionate and rough kiss from the other who's lips were tender, but could also be rough just like he wanted and preffered.

"Is there anything more you need?" Mariku looked away. He wanted to declare his desire for love, but he felt he would be asking too much of Bakura. The tomb robber leaned back making himself look more appealing. He knew what Mariku wanted, but he had to hear it first.

"Um…" Mariku said in a dull whisper. "I want you so badly, but I fear I am asking to much of you. I don't want to scare you away," he was thinking and wanting to blurt. His mouth would not open and he could not say what he wanted. He didn't understand it. "Who am I to be afraid to speak my mind?" he muttered. "What do you want?" Bakura asked kindly and again waited for an answer he was not likely to easily receive.

The tomb robber leaned back a tad bit further on his bed, "Well, if you aren't going to say anything, I am going to bed." Mariku sunk to the floor and leaned back against the wall. "This is ridiculous…" he again muttered. "Normal nothing is this hard for even you," Bakura remarked. He gave a curious look and sat up to look down on the struggling male.

"This is different, Bakura." The palid-haired male rose from his bed and stood over the other. "I think I know what you want," he said in a deep and alluring voice. Mariku grabbed Bakura by the shirt and dragged him down his level, then wrapping his arms around the other's waist. Bakura became really annoyed by the pathetic way Mariku was acting and carefully attempted pushing him off. "Forget it, you aren't even worth my time. Get off."

"I won't…" Mariku replied childishly. He clung tightly to Bakura not showing any signs of giving up with ease. Bakura stopped caring that Mariku was injured, and pushed a lot harder to free himself of the other's grip,"Get off, you little leech!" He said louder and more upset.

Suddenly, Mariku lashed out at Bakura. The tomb robber didn't fall, but he did have a "great" (I love sarcasm) looking red mark where he had been hit. Mariku balled up and covered his face with his lightly tanned and strong hands. He peered through his fingers and looked at Bakura with fear, for the first time ever, existant in his striking purple eyes. Mariku waited to be beaten for his insolence. Bakura rolled his chocolate eyes once again and roughly grabbed Mariku by the collar of his shirt. He lifted him to his feet and threw him onto the bed. Slowly he moved onto Mariku and furiously kissed his neck. The tomb keeper's eyes had widened immensely with surprise. "B-B-Bakura?" he moaned.

"Stop acting so surprised…its annoying."

His hard-ass expression had become that of a playful, but none the less, sexy and thoughtful grin. "Bakura…" Mariku again moaned with pleasure. "Just shut up…" he whispered in Mariku's ear. He captured the other's mouth in a heated and passionate kiss. Mariku didn't bother pulling away, nor did he want to. This is what he had so desperately wanted for the longest time.

Bakura's actions were getting far too rough for the injured male. The tomb keeper wanted to cry out in pain, but he didn't want Bakura to stop. The palid-haired one could sense this feeling of pain and softened his touch. His lips traveled to Mariku's jaw, and he was very careful.

However careful he was trying to be, it wasn't helping any. Suddenly, Bakura could feel Mariku's body fall limp. Amongst all of the pain and utter excitement, he had fallen unconscious. Bakura backed off of him and shook his head. "Well, I gave you what you wanted. Now you can't complain."

Bakura returned Mariku to his own home without Malik's notice. He put him into bed and covered him carefully, then left. Not long after Mariku had been brought home, he slowly came to. "Bakura?" he uttered. Mariku looked around through half drawn eyes, but realized that he was in his own room and Bakura was not there. For the remainder of the early morning hours, all he could think about was Bakura.

Morning came slowly, but surely it did come. The large gold doors to Mariku's bedroom crept open and Malik peered into the room. He saw Mariku awake in his bed and sitting upright. "Was it all a dream?" Mariku thought to himself. This was the same question that he continued to ask himself as the image of Bakura kissing him continued to play in his head.

Malik padded into the room with a tray of food in his hands. "I brought you breakfast, Mariku," Malik said in a happy tone. He set the tray down on Mariku's lap. Surprisingly, it was in a brown paper bag and smelled remarkable. "I hope you like Egg-MacMuffins," Mariku grinned and left the master bedroom. (I love those things!)

The little Hikari felt so good that he decided to go for a walk. It was a gloomy and grey, but beautiful day for a walk. (I rhymed? O.O) He fetched his faux brown leather jacket and left without telling Mariku.

With a delightful skip in his step, he padded down the snowy sidewalk. He whistled and delightful toon as he went. A bit further down the sidewalk Malik spotted Ryou walking along the same path in his direction. Ryou glanced up from pavement and saw Malik. "Malik? How nice to see you again," Ryou said trying to sound cheerful. "Hello, Ryou." Malik grinned idiotically. "Oh, I have been meaning to talk to you, Ryou."

"Is that so?" Ryou said exhaustedly and readjusted the heavy shopping bags in his arms. "Do you mind?" Ryou shook his head. He was happy to talk as long as he could rest a little bit. Malik took a few of the bags from Ryou and set them down on near a bus bench. They sat down together on the bench.

"So, what's on your mind, Malik?"

"Well, I am quite upset that Mariku didn't inform me that he was running away and that just makes me angry, but he has also changed in a way." Ryou couldn't help but laugh aloud. "I think the point of running away is that you run away from something or someone without telling anyone," Ryou pointed out. Malik frowned at Ryou, but continued the conversation.

"As I was saying," Malik said uninterested in Ryou's ridicule. "He hasn't beaten me in a while, I'm actually being fed regularly…everything has changed." Ryou looked away from Malik and respired. His long white tendrils danced on the breeze that had picked up.

"it's the best change in the world, but I don't understand it…" Malik prattled on. The sandy-blond Hikari acknowledged that Ryou was not paying attention and waved his hand in front of his face. Ryou pushed his hand away and looked up at him. "Sorry about that," he appologized. Malik nodded and smiled. He thought it was adorable how the other Hikari looked when he spaced out.

"My Yami has been acting strange as well…"

"How is that?"

"He hasn't beaten me in so long. It worries me." Ryou said with the saddest of expressions.

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"I guess, but he's more uptight and angry, to the point where I think he will…" Ryou paused not wanting to think of how the anger would be used against himself or anyone else. "Will what?"

"You see, my Yami is very unpredictable. When you think he will do a certain thing he goes off and does something completely different. I fear for myself and others." Malik looked directly into Ryou's lightly colored chocolate eyes.

Suddenly, he drew him into his arms and held him clost to his body. The reason for this affectionate hug was not apparent to either male, but it didn't matter. Ryou thought for a moment to see if he could come up with a suitable example to give Malik.

"Oh, when he has been getting really upset, and it seems like he will hit me, he doesn't."

"So, now, he's unpredictable?" Malik looked so clueless that it was awfully cute. Ryou sighed and gave Malik his own cute look. "I mean, you never quite know what he is going to do. Normally, when he gets mad, he beats the fluff out of me, but for the past few days he hasn't." Ryou again attempted to explain, but he couldn't help but feel that communication was flat out failing.

"I see," Malik said with a grin. Secretly he didn't understand a single thing Ryou had said. He just knew that Ryou was beginning to look really good right about now. Malik looked him up and down, and Ryou noticed him eyeing him up and down.

His alabaster skin took on a light rose color. He turned away and sighed as he caught onto another thought of unhappiness. "Sometimes it feels like my poor Yami is suffering in some terrible way or another. He blocks me from seeing his thoughts, but I can tell that something is wrong."

Malik brooded for a moment. There were so many possibilites, but one struck him above all. "Could it by any chance have something to do with Mariku?"


	11. Chapter 11

Hello all of you happy people! I hope you really appreciate that I am typing this up for you all. My shoulder hurts like hell! I fell down the stairs yesterday and it is killing me, but this shows that you all mean so much to me that I would be typing in this condition. Anyways, I just thought I would mention that there is something underlined in the story, I hope you get it when you see it. Peace, love, and padded walls.

The two Hikari males brooded quietly for a short while. "Well, I guess it could be Mariku," Ryou spoke up first. "Whenever I menstion Mariku in a good way, he always gets mad and says he will…well, I won't lower myself to cursing, but you understand." Malik looked at Ryou in an unamused way. "Wait, you knew that and you didn't mention this earlier?"

Ryou shrugged, "We weren't talking about this earlier." Malik leaned forward on his hand and lowered his head and shook it sadly. "How did I end up talking to you…?" he murmmered.

Malik leaned back up against the back boards of the bench and sighed, now mentally exhausted and feeling stupid for sitting here and talking with Ryou when he could be acting happy and skipping down the sidewalk.

He glanced down at his watch and realized that they had been talking for at least an hour. "This should stay between us," Malik quickly commented and stood. Ryou nodded and smiled. He too understood the time of his absence had been prolongued.

Malik kindly took half of Ryou's groceries and walked him home. They stopped short of the front steps, "Thank you for your help, Malik."

"Its not a problem." Ryou turned and accended the steps to the front door. "Wait," Malik shouted from behind. He ran up the steps looking a bit nervous and jittery about something. Quickly he leaned forward and pecked Ryou on the cheek lightly.

The palid-haired Hikari blushed as intensensly as Malik had begun to. Malik smirked and glanced away and mummbled, "Unlike my Yami, I want to be a little more forward with my feelings and intentions."

Ryou was absolutely befuddled by what had just happened between him and the other Hikari. Malik used quite a few larger words in just one sentence, and the fact that the virgin male had never been kissed or touched by anyone, other than Bakura who usually just beat him to a bloodied pulp, was all too much for the moment.

"I really…like you, Ryou. Perhaps you feel just a tad bit the same way?" Malik figited anxiously and nervously. Ryou's heart was pounding like a hammer and a nail. His heart wanted to leap from his chest and scream bloody murder, "yes," but that wasn't about to happen. "Um…Malik?"

Ryou brought his quivering hands to Malik's rosy colored cheeks and leaned forward to return the favor. This was his way of letting Malik know how he too felt. Ryou nervously picked up his groceries and escaped into the safety of his home.

Malik turned and danced down the stairs with the biggest and happiest grin glued to his face. Ryou peered out the front window and watched Malik skip down the street and out of sight. The lighthearted Hikari arrived home as soon as he could.

He crossed his fingers as he walked into the house, but to no avail. Mariku was standing at the top of the grand, staircase, staring directly at him with a very stern look attached. "Where the hell were you?"

He decended down the staircase and stood behind him. His warm breath ran down Malik's neck and made him quiver in fear. "You left without telling me where you were going. You know very well that I get angry and you know what the consequences are for your actions," Mariku hissed in his Hikari's ear.

"I do know, Mariku," Malik replied with tremor in his tone. Mariku pushed him away sharply, "Get out of my sight." Malik did not hesitate to make a run for the kitchen. "What the hell was he so happy about?" Mariku thought to himself.

Ryou put away the groceries and ran upstairs. It was still morning and Bakura had not had breakfast yet. Ryou glanced in through the door left slightly ajar, "I'm making breakfast now," he said softly. "Whatever," Bakura replied unconcerned.

Ryou thought it best to just leave him alone, and went downstairs to cook.

Malik somehow managed an edible meal this time. Being the awful chef he was, his body was half crisped, once again, by the untaimed flam of the stove when he tried to light it. Mariku refused the meal and let Malik do with it what he wanted.

The starved male gladly accepted it and ran downstairs to the dining room to feast.

Ryou served his Yami a wonderful meal at the table, which he did eat but was quick about it so as to return to the comfort of his dimmly lit room. He knelt down in front of his dresser and opened the bottom drawer, taking from it a beautiful oak case. He carried it to his bed and sat down on the edge of the king sized mattress.

He undid the latch of the box and lifted the lid. Inside, a silver dagger with an ivory handle, lay awaiting its use. The handle and blade were tainted with the tomb robber's blood from previous uses. Again, he took up the blade and cut into his frail and colorless limbs. He felt relieved and free of pain, free of everything that plagued his mind.

Mariku was quietly sitting and drinking a glass of wine, when he felt a sharp burning sensation course throughout his body. He knew what was going on and didn't want to interrupt Bakura's alone time, but then again, a little intervention was in order. He set the glass aside and disappeared in a flash.

Bakura slipped off of his bed and onto the wood panneled floor and was gripping his blood-tainted weapon tightly in his right hand.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you not to do this to yourself?" Mariku taunted. He sat down on the black silk sheets and glanced down at the his sadist lover. Bakura glared daggers at the annoying other, "I don't bother listening to what others have to say because it's a waste of time."

Malik ignored Bakura's yammering and laid back, sprawling out on the ocean of black silk. His purple orbs wandered to the ceiling. He thought for a moment about what he wanted to talk about, being his forgetful self. "Oh yes," he chimed finally remembering.

"Bakura, was last night dream?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" He replied sarcastically, knowing very well what Mariku was talking about. He badly wanted to say "no", but something was stopping him. "Well…I think I dreamed that you kissed me and…but then it went black…" Mariku paused a moment.

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about so you must have dreamt it," he retorted in a convincing manner. "I guess so…"Mariku sadly agreed.

"It was only one of the best dreams I've ever had…" he followed up. Mariku closed his eyes and quietly laed there. Bakura stood and left his room to take a shower seeing as his limbs were steeped in blood. He left acting as if Mariku wasn't even there.

"I can't believe it was only a dream…it seemed so real," the tomb keeper dwelt heavily on the subject.

Bakura stripped away each article of clothing carefully and tossed them aside into the hamper near the bathroom sink. He climbed into the shower and drew the curtain, then he turned on the cold water. It streamed down his flawless body and washed away his pain, cares, and the blood.

Mariku slipped into the occupied bathroom and sat on the counter. He watched as Bakura's shadow danced on the nearly transparent shower curtain. Mariku inhaled the sweet smell of the bathroom that Bakura's body wash was giving off.

Bakura felt another presence in the room, and threw back the curtain completely revealing his unclothed and impeccable physique. "Are you still here!?"

Mariku smiled stupidly and nodded. "You pervert! Can't I take a god damn shower by myself!?" Bakura angrily shrieked and tossed a bar of soap at Mariku. The tomb keeper held up his hand and caught the soap aimed at him and tossed it back to Bakura. "I suppose I could leave you for a short while. Be quick," Mariku commented and then exited the room.

He returned to Bakura's room and climb back onto the bed and under the wonderful silk. The covers were warm and smelled strongly of Bakura. "It smells wonderful," Mariku marveled. He smelled the covers in a creepy, but love-sick way.

Bakura walked into the room with a towel clinging to his hips to conceal himself from Mariku's perverted eyes. He noticed Mariku lounging around in his bed and was quick to get something to wear from his dresser. He grabbed something black and left to find another room to change in where Mariku's wandering eyes could not find him.

"He hates me," Mariku sighed heavily. The tomb keeper disappeared, the covers falling flat in his absence.

Bakura closed the door to the empty room, he had found suitable, which was only Three Doors Down from his own room.

The damp towel plummeted to the floor from Bakura's luscious waist. He set his clothing of choice out on the guest bed (guest bed? More like death bed for anyone that dare come into his house) and unfolded each article. "Why does he insist on being in my house and being near me? Its fucking creepy…" he thought to himself, bringing the band of the boxers to his waist and adjusting them until he was comfortable.

"I hate him," he muttered, then pulling on the tight black shirt that flattered his well-built stomach and chest, and an even tighter pair of black jeans that clung to his perfect legs and waist. The last thing he put on were his black converse shoes which were well-worn.

Little Malik was quietly sitting in the living room on the first floor of the mansion. Mariku walked by the open area in a slump and dragged himself up the first staircase. Malik followed up not far behind. The sandy-blond egyptian came to the third floor and lazily marched down the long corridor to the master bedroom at its end, once there slamming the door behind himself, and the loud noise ringing throughout the mansion.

The little Hikari opened the door slowly, sticking only his head in through the doorway, "Is something wrong," he queried before being struck by a glass vase that had been hurled at him, stiking the intended victim. "Get out!" Mariku shrieked. Malik did not hesitate to withdraw as quickly as he could.

In a flash, Malik had left the house, not wanting to confront the raging storm of emotions that was his Yami. He'd rather confront him at another time when the storm had calmed and gone.

Malik returned to the same bus bench where he had talked with Ryou earlier. He grabbed a hand-full of snow and put it over his right eye where just above his brow he had gained a new 'battle' wound.


	12. Chapter 15

Konnichi wa! I am totally sorry for taking so long to submit the last chapter, but my shoulder has been killing me. I had to take a rest. Anyways, I am trying really hard to update more often. Sorry. Peace, love, and padded walls.

Not far down the street, the fragile palid-haired male was walking in Malik's direction. He had left the house to run a few more arrends that Bakura had forced upon him.

Meanwhile, Malik was sitting on the bus bench not far from his house, and he had a handful of snow to his forehead where he had been wounded when Mariku threw the vase out of anger. (You all know this, but I thought I should mention it twice just for the hell of it.)

He tossed the crimson tainted snow aside and scooped up another handful for his his head. The area around the wound had already bruised in the ugliest of ways, and the blood had not yet clotted.

Ryou spotted Malik just up ahead and crossed over to the side of the street he was on. He was smiling brightly, but that smile faded away when he saw the blood stained snow on the ground and the handful Malik was holding against his head.

"Malik, what happened?" Ryou was quite worried about the wound even though he too was accustomed to being wounded. "Mariku was angry for some reason…" He tossed the snow aside and pushed his bangs out of the way, "He threw a vase at me."

Ryou examined the gash carefully. It was very adorable how concentrated he was while overlooking the injury. "He's so depressed and frustrated…" Malik heavily sighed. He feared the mood shifting and emotions would rip his Yami to bits and ultimately cause him to become suicidal.

Ryou pulled a tissue from the pocket of his white trench coat and dabbed at the wound. Malik flinched and pulled away quickly. "Oops, sorry." Ryou tried to be a little more careful. Malik smiled thinly. "I just wish I could read his mind, but that connection was severed years ago…." He leant over and burried his face his arms.

Ryou put the tissue into his pocket. "I think the reason he is so frustrated is because of Bakura."

"Bakura? What does this have to do with him?" Ryo9u sat down next to the other Hikari. "Well, ever since they ran into eachother, Mariku continues to visit my home and I guess that makes Bakura upset."

Malik looked away and thought about it for a moment. "I was wondering where he kept going…" he muttered.

"Bakura still carries that grudge against Mariku for sending him to the Shadow Realm. I don't think he'll ever be able to forgive him." Ryou put one arm around Malik.

Ryou pulled his shopping list from his pocket and looked at it sadly. He had not gotten the groceries yet and Bakura was probably going to yell or something like that. He put the list back into his coat and stood from the bench. "Well…Bakura just wants him to stay away."

Malik nodded and leaned back up. He shivered slightly and just suddenly realized that he wasn't wearing a coat or anything. He had just dashed out of the house in a huge hurry.

"You should get home, its too cold to be out in the snow without a coat.," Ryou said noticingly.

"I'm not going home," Malik replied almost defiantly. Ryou rolled his eyes and leant down in front of Malik. "Then you shall stay with me as my guest."

Malik glanced up at Ryou with his brow arched, "You really want me to?" Ryou nodded and smiled. "Well, I have to go get my backpack and some. I'll just sneak in without Mariku's notice."

"Do you want me to help you, or will you be fine on your own?" Ryou asked in his most cute and helpful manner. "I should go alone, it'll be safer." The two Hikari's walked off in opposite directions for now, Malik to his home and Ryou to his.

Malik slowly opened the creaking door and quietly made his way up to his room on the second floor. He slipped into his room and delved deep within his unorganized closet to find his backpack and something to wear that wasn't trashed.

There was a snapping noise, and the door to Malik's room slammed shut and the lock clicked. "What are you doing, Malik?" inquired the dark familiar voice of his Yami. "I was-"

Mariku was quick and had his hand wrapped tightly around Malik's fragile neck. "I know where you are going," Mariku's hand clenched tighter around Malik's throat. Malik gasped for air and struggled, but the tomb keeper's grip was too tight.

Mariku dropped him back onto the floor. Malik couched and gasped as he drew breath. "You are my Hikari, and you aren't going anywhere, understand?" Mariku angrily spat at Malik.

"I'm going…to be with Ryou…" Malik whispered defiantly. Malik sat up and glared at Mariku. His Yami laughed loudly, but his laughter did not last long. "I want you nowhere near either of them…" He kicked his Hikari in the chest, the other cried out in pain.

By now, Bakura had thought a few things over thoroughly. He had decided to straighten things out with Mariku.

"That's not an option!" Mariku raged and kicked his Hikari again. The door knob quivered and the door opened. "Why don't you give the weakling a break," a strong voice said. "What do you want now?" Mariku snarled, not turning to acknowledge the intruders presence.

"Let your Hikari go…I need to have a word with just you," The silver-haired robber said without even a hint of emotion in his tone.


	13. Chapter 16

Wasabi everyone? (what's up?) I am so sorry that I couldn't finish this chapter sooner. mutters Damn writer's block... Well, at least I got it done. I could've just tossed it all out the window and said, "aw screw it" but I didn't.My shoulder isn't screwing me over anymore and I feel great. Enough of that. Enjoy the chapter and please read and review if you wouldn't mind.

Mariku glared at the theif angrily and pushed his battered Hikari out of the way. "Now you want to talk? You wanted nothing to do with me an hour ago. Why now?"

Mariku again struck his Hikari. He went into a fitful rage and struck his Hikari again and again. Bakura grabbed his arms and held tightly behind his back, restricting his movements. He glanced down at the cowering male. "Ryou's waiting for you at my house."

Malik did not hesitate in leaving with his things carelessly shoved into the backpack. He limped out of the room and made for the door, closing it behind him, and limping down the sidewalk to Bakura's house.

Mariku forced Bakura off of him and stomped off fuming to his own bedroom. Bakura followed and closed the double-doors of Mariku's master bedroom. Mariku was pouting on the ceilng already.

With the use of his magic, a few small objects had floated up to the ceilng, all happening to be glass. Tears were streaming from his purple orbs. He pointed at Bakura, sending an object flying in his direction, which he easily dodged. "I wish you would make up your damn mind!" Mariku yelled, sending another item flying more quickly at Bakura, which he was barely able to dodge, but had managed.

"I just want to talk!" He retorted angrily. Mariku shot off a few more rounds of glass objects until he had nothing more to throw. Bakura dodged as many as he could and was only hit by one. Bakura looked up and arched a fine brow. "Get your ass down here and talk to me," he said, further annoyed than he originally was.

Mariku decended from the ceiling with an innocent and upset look plastered to his face accompanied by the stain of his tears. He allowed himself to drop down into the flood of gold fabric, and large pillows almost twice his size, in a rough fashion.

Bakura casually walked over to Mariku's bed and sat on the edge. He looked back at Mariku who was struggling to get out of the mess of pillows. "I wanted to ask you…again…why do you insist on being around me?" Bakura said sounding hesitant to talk and also more serious than before.

"I told you," Mariku groaned. "You lit some sort of passion in me that not even I can explain."

"You didn't feel this way before, why now?" Bakura questioned more curiously.

"If you must know, I think that you have changed from what you once were." Mariku whispered, tears continuing to exist.

"What did I used to be? I don't recall changing…ever."

Mariku climbed out of the pit of pillows and crawled over to the edge of the bed opposite the side Bakura was sitting. "To me, Bakura, you were merely a pawn in my sick games that I played against the pharaoh…" Mariku shifted and looked back at Bakura who's back was still turned to him. " You may not notice that change, but I have…"

Bakura shed the black trench coat that he had been wearing the entire time and draped it over one of the bed posts. He had worn it to keep Mariku from thinking anything dirty whilst they had this conversation. He was wearing tight leather clothing that barely allowed any movement whatsoever and it was amazing that he dodged the objects he did earlier.

"Well, I'll cut to the chase. I don't understand it…" Bakura shrugged. Mariku closed his eyes and sighed exhaustedly," Let me guess, a sudden change of heart," he thought to himself. Bakura leaned his chin on his hand and closed his delicious chocolate orbs as well.

"Mariku, ever since I ran into you that white winter's night, I felt different," Bakura openly admitted.

"Elaborate…" Mariku turned and looked back at him. "Well, its like you said. I lit some stupid passion within you, and I guess you could say you did the same for me… I just didn't want to admit it," Bakura explained.

"I never said it was stupid…" Mariku muttered and slumped over onto the palm of his hand. Bakura stood and grabbed his trench coat. "Well, I have wasted enough of your time as it is…I will just let myself out."

Bakura opened the double-doors a tad bit, then paused," Oh, and by the way…that thing we did, it wasn't a dream," Bakura admitted.

Mariku appeared in front of him and slammed the door shut angrily. "What do you mean it wasn't a dream? You said-"

"I lied, Mariku."

Mariku shuddered as anger pulsed through his body. He was quick to act out and punched Bakura in the stomach. The silver-haired theif bent over with his arms held over his stomach. "What the hell was that for?" He groaned.

"For lying to me. You told me it was all just a dream, and I was stupid enough to believe it."

Bakura straightened up and shook off the minimal amount of pain. "Well," he shrugged, "as I said before, I wouldn't admit anything like that. To me, it seemed to be no more than a dream."

Tears crept upon Mariku once again. He did not waste any time pulling Bakura into a very passionate kiss which did not last long. Mariku's lips seperated from Bakura's, their bodies close, and their fingers entangled in one anothers.

"I didn't want it to be a dream…" Mariku mummbled.

The theif's longing lips trapped Mariku's in yet another kiss similar to the first. He bit the lower of his soft lips and bit down gently bringing Mariku enjoyment and utter bliss. The tomb keeper moaned and his body quivered in anticipation.

The fridged breeze whipped Malik in the face as he hobbled down the street to Bakura's house. He suddenly wished that he had remembered to grab a coat before running from the house in panic. He knocked on the door of the old house and leaned against the side to wait for an answer.

The silver-haired Hikari answered, dressed in black, with a bowl of strawberries in his hand and a strawberry in the other. It was unlike him to ever snack or to ever wear anything the color of black. Malik looked at him oddly and watched as he popped the juicy delight into his mouth.

"Hi, Malik," he moved aside to let Malik in, "Make yourself comfortable. I'm just finishing my snack and putting away the groceries." Malik walked into the wonderful warmth of the house. Ryou returned to the kitchen to finish what he had started.

Malik dropped his backpack near the door and slowly, but painfully walked to the living room and fell back on the couch which he soon regretted as the pain pulsated through his body.

Ryou finished his chore and walked into the living room with a smile plastered to his face. However, the large grin faded away at the site of Malik. Ryou had not been paying attention whilst munching and had not noticed that Malik had had the crap beaten out of him.

"What the heck? Are you okay?" Ryou sat down next to Malik on the couch. He sat in panic as he over looked Malik's body.

"Its nothing…Mariku was just upset."

"How did you get away?" Ryou inquired as calmly as possible.

"Bakura stopped him…" Malik uncomfortable shifted his weight on the coach and flinched. "Strange…I thought Bakura was in his room…I guess he wasn't."

Ryou and Malik went over all of the sandy-blond's wounds, and then Malik was given painkillers and a glass of water. Whilst Ryou worried, Malik watched with interest. The Hikari's pants were tighter than usual, less conservative. Ryou stood and took the empty glass of water from him. As he turned, he was surprised to feel the slightest tweak of his butt. Malik had pinched him playfully.

"Ow," Ryou turned at an angle. He was very skinny but oh so sexy in Malik's eyes. "What was that for?" He blushed furiously and his eyes were wide with surprise.

"I may have just gotten my ass kicked, but I can still play…" he smirked. The tenacious material of Ryou's pants was giving Malik a few ideas.

Ryou blushed badly, and Malik did the same. This was all new to them both. Ryou was very cute when flustered. "Um…uh…" Ryou stammered and was at a loss for words.

Malik stood, holding back expressions of pain and slowly approached Ryou. He took the empty glass from Ryou's hand and set it on the coffee table. Ryou looked at Malik in a confused way. Suddenly, Malik slammed Ryou's hips to his own and brushed lips with the other Hikari.

Malik pulled away slowly, as the pain was becoming unbarable once again. He took a step back from Ryou and leaned against the wall as smoothly and cool as possible. "I'm sorry," he appologized, seeming embarrassed, but not in pain like he was. Ryou looked down, and was doing his impression of a tomato. "Uh..n-no…you were…I mean its fine…really," he stuttered.

Malik again took a seat on the couch and groaned. The very sexy Ryou sat down next to him and gave him a more seriously worried look. "Are you sure you are okay, Malik?"

Malik again eye-balled Ryou's slim figure and quickly averted his eyes, "Restrain yourself," he thought. His body quaked at the many thoughts running through his mind.

Ryou waved his hand in front of Malik's face to check for any signs of life as Malik gazed unbrokenly at the fireplace across the room. "Malik? Are you?"

Quickly, Malik forcefully pushed Ryou back on the couch and ambushed his neck with delicate kisses, putting one hand on Ryou's chest and placing the other just above the button of the tight black leather jeans. Ryou was dazed and just as confused. "M-Malik?"

"I'm sorry, Ryou…I'm trying to hold back as…much as possible…" he appologized between each kiss.

Eeeek! I love the ending of this chapter, I hope you do too. Betcha can't wait for the next chapter to see what happens! Only Megan and I know, you have to wait. I'll try to hurry for you. I'll just remind you, review plz!


	14. Chapter 17

Hello everyone, you are probably getting tired of hearing me yammer on and on, but I think it is the only way I get to communicate with any of you, but that is just how I feel. Anyways, I will shut up now and just get to the chapter. Enjoy! P.S. from where I am starting it might be easier to read the last paragraph or whatever so you understand where I am starting. Just a suggestion.

"I've..never been in this type…of situation," Ryou's breathing was already beginning to hitch as he became ever aroused by Malik's kissing and touching. He conceded to the sandy-blonde's touch and gently bit down on Malik's lower lip. Malik suddenly felt horrible for forcing himself upon Ryou and sat back. The fragile Hikari leaned in closer to him and cupped his face in his warm palm.

"Why have you stopped?" he said ever so innocently.

"I don't want to force you into anything you haven't done…to tell you the truth, I haven't done this before either."

"You know, Malik, it did feel good," he whispered in Malik's ear.

Malik grinned knowing that he had been given to permission to do as he pleased with his lover's body. Gently he picked at the buttons of Ryou's shirt. The silver-haired Hikari's breathing hitched as his torso was slowly exposed, and the shirt tossed to the ground. Malik delicately kissed Ryou's exposed skin, slowly working his way up to his neck. Ryou was enjoying this so much that he moaned softly for him.

Bakura had settled in Mariku bedroom and was currently leaning against the wall whilst Mariku was laying amongst the flurry of gold pillows. He glanced over at Bakura, and then looked away again.

"Can't you look at me now?" Bakura said in a deep and alluring voice.

Mariku floated up to the ceiling and quietly laid there. Bakura stared off for a moment and shook his head. "I hope Ryou doesn't burn the whole fucking house down…"

Mariku giggled in a scary girlish way. Bakura ignored the awkward sound and walked over to the unoccupied bed to lay down. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then releasing it slowly.

"Am I boring you?" Mariku inquired, looking down at the tomb robber laying just below.

"No, but what is there to do? Should I leave you in privacy?"

Mariku shook his head and thinly smiled, "No, I don't need my privacy. I'm glad you're here with me…" he said in a dull whisper.

Bakura nodded. He opened his eyes and looked up at Mariku. "I guess I am also glad…" he too whispered.

"Do you hate me, Boku?" Mariku said using a nick-name he had just thought of.

"Don't call me that." Bakura said sounding nothing other than serious, "If I hated you, would I have bothered coming here at all?"

Mariku shook his head yet again. "Come down here, would you?" Bakura kindly asked of Mariku. The tomb keeper dropped down onto the large bed next to Bakura who bounced slightly. Bakura had been observing Mariku for the last thirty minutes. "You don't seem happy. Is there anything I can do to cheer you up?" Bakura questioned in a low, mysterious voice, several thoughts and scenarios ran through his mind.

Mariku thought a moment. Bakura sat up and just stared at the sandy-blond male. Mariku just kind of tipped over and put his head on Bakura's comfortable lap. Bakura quirked a brow in confusion. The tomb keeper looked up at Bakura, looking oddly enough like a school girl at a slumber party.

"You're cute," Mariku said to break the awkward silence. "I don't get what you're doing, but fine…"

For some unbeknownst reason, Bakura slowly ran his fingers through Mariku's sandy-blond spikes. Mariku toggled his fingers around in the Bakura's silver bangs that were draped down his broad shoulders. "Wait…cute?" Bakura inquired, finally catching on to what Mariku had said.

"How is a sadist cute?" Bakura further questioned.

"Its easy, you just are." Mariku gave Bakura a strange and very girl-like look.

"Are you alright? You're acting like a girl," Bakura said discerning this sudden change. Mariku disregarded the remark and crawled around behind Bakura. He took his hair in his strong hands and took up french braiding the other's lustrous pale gray tendrils.

"What are you doing?" Bakura glanced back at the blithe male who was humming what sounded like an ancient egyptian melody. "Just braiding your hair." Mariku tied off the braid with a black silk ribbon stowed away in the pocket of his pants. He smiled as he watched Bakura finger the intertwined locks of his hair.

"How girl-like," the tomb robber commented. Mariku arched a brow,"Did I do it wrong? I don't know how I could of…" Mariku fingered Bakura's hair and searched for the problem area, but was unsuccessful. He wrapped his arms around Bakura's waist and laid his head on the theif's back.

"I thought I did an okay job."

"I guess so…but, not even Ryou can do a braid. It's a girl thing."

"I used to braid Ishizu's hair, back off." Mariku recalled.

"All right, all right," Bakura said, leaning back slightly against Mariku.

"I don't do girly things," Mariku whined under his breath. Bakura grinned stupidly and glanced over his shoulder at Mariku,"It's amazing how you also whine like a girl. Are you always this way around guys you like?"

Mariku slapped Bakura across the back of his head and stomped over to his dresser, climbed atop it, and pouted. "What a chick thing to do," Bakura provoked. "I am not acting like a chick," Mariku returned angrily.

"If you aren't a chick, then why don't you just prove it to me," Bakura taunted. He sat up on the bed and looked at Mariku who was turning an angry crimson as the anger inside of him welled up. He jumped down off of the dresser and slowly approached Bakura with his fists clenched and looking as if he were on the verge of beating Bakura into submission.

He swiftly grabbed Bakura's balls in a pitiful attempt at anything. "Even a girl can grab a guys dick. You don't even have half of the grip a real chick would have," Bakura continued to provoke. He found this all rather funny and was enjoying every minute. Mariku's held on tighter than before, but accompanied it with a kiss. The tomb robber forced Mariku to remove his hand as he leaned harder into the kiss. They rolled over on the bed, Mariku in the sea of gold silk and Bakura hovering over him on his hands and knees.

Mariku gently eased out of the kiss, "Is that enough proof?" Bakura shrugged, "I guess it will have to do." He nibbled on Mariku's neck a short while before completely removing himself from Mariku and the bed. "I sure hope my damn Hikari isn't getting into trouble…" he mummbled.

"What are you doing? Get your ass back over here!" Mariku shrieked, feeling forgotten and wanting more of Bakura's wonderful attention. "No need to scream like that…damn!" Bakura yelled, covering his ears.

"That was an order!" Mariku shrieked again. "You know…if you always refuse to obey me, why should I obey you? I should be considered a god for doing any of this for you." He smirked in a very yummy way.

"I know, and you are my god and I am your slave, but the slave wants to get fucked right now!" Mariku growled impatiently. "What did you say?" Bakura said pretending to have tuned out whilst Mariku was demanding his attention. He purposely did it knowing full well that Mariku would hit the roof.

Suddenly, Mariku burst out screaming at the top of his lungs. Bakura again threw his hands over his ears. "Stop doing that! God damn it!" He opened one of his eyes and looked at Mariku," I won't be able to hear if you keep this up," he found himself yelling over Mariku's screaming.

Mariku ceased screaming instantly and laid back on the sheets, grabbing the closest pillow and holding it over his face.

"My god," Bakura said rather relieved that the screaming had stopped. He saw the fit Mariku was having on the bed and sighed. He stripped the sandy-blonde of the pillow and climbed on top of him and roughly kissed his vulnerable neck.

"You need to…stop acting like a kid and…" Bakura paused mid-sentence to ravage Mariku's neck, "Stop acting like a kid and act like the person I became aquainted with….that night in the school yard."

"A kid…A kid?"

Mariku threw Bakura off of the bed and onto the floor. He grabbed Bakura by the collar of his shirt and slammed him against the wall, holding him prison, his feet no longer touching the floor.

"I am not acting like a damn kid!" He furiously yelled at Bakura. "Take it back, you stupid bastard!" Mariku's enraged expression softened as he slowly lowered Bakura back down to the floor. He hung his head in shame.

"That's the Mariku I want to see…" he looked softly at Mariku, "the one that sparked my passion…" Mariku turned to his bed and flopped down onto the cool gold sheets. Bakura opened the door, pausing and looking back. "Until you find that form of yourself…I'll be around."

The sandy-blonde grabbed a pillow at the head of his bed and threw it at Bakura, who quickly dodged it on his way out.


	15. Chapter 18

Bakura left the warmth of the mansion and walked down the street. He did not intend on going home right now, and instead just went for a brisk walk. Not far from the house, he heard a shrill cry come from the mansion behind him. He ignored it and continued on. The gently pallid snow coated his silver tendrils as he walked against the storm.

Malik leaned forward, his clothing now shed; Ryou's as well. The clothing was in a large pile on the floor next to the couch in the living room. The sandy-blonde Hikari leaned over Ryou and softly kissed his bare neck. Ryou moaned faintly.

Malik straddled Ryou's hips, their flesh meeting at the hip. Malik's right hand danced down the virgin Ryou's slender hips and thighs. He smirked as he heard Ryou gasp oiut suddenly as he was surprised and now blushing madly.

Bakura had unconsciously walked to the park. He had stopped to sit on a park bench. He reached into his pocket and withdrew a pocket knife that was new and unused.

The blade was flawless and had a handle the color of black that was finely crafted by skilled hands. It was a beautiful weapon. He pulled back the sleeve of his trench coat and sunk its beautiful silver into his flesh, cutting ddeper than usual.

He thought of Mariku as he did so. He thought of how he longed to be with the dark spirit that sealed him away in the Shadow Realm.

Through the link Ryou shared with Bakura, he felt the unbearable pain of the cutting taking place in the park. Malik saw the same pained look on the other's face and stopped what he was doing.

"Are you all right? Did I hurt you?" Malik inquired, concerned for his lover.

"Its Bakura…he is still cutting himself…" Ryou's expression was both pained and upset. "I tell him to stop…but he refuses to listen…I'm merely a Hikari…"Ryou muttered.

Ryou felt Bakura close off the link for now. "We should go find him…" Malik said sadly. He didn't want to stop what he was doing, but Bakura's life was more important. He climbed off of Ryou and quickly dressed; Ryou followed in example. They left the house to search for him.

Malik reached over and took Ryou's hand as they walked. Ryou moved to clinging to Malik's slender arm. "I don't know where he is…" Ryou said in a slight panic.

"We'll find him, don't worry about that," Marlik assured the pallid-haired Hikari.

"Why would he cut himself," Malik though aloud without meaning to.

"Its relief to him."

"But its bad for him, Ryou."

"I know it is, but he doesn't care.

The crimson life escaping Bakura fell onto the virgin snow. Suddenly, he felt a certain presence standing not far behind him. The white-haired Yami sighed and closed the knife, placeing back in his pocket. He stood from the bench and began to wander off in the opposite direction of the quiet presence.

"Bakura."

The egyptian theif turned slowly, facing the sandy-blonde, looking more pale than usual. Mariku slowly approached him, and reached into his pocket for the knife with a serious look bound to his features.

"What arou you doing, Bakura?" Bakura took back his knife and stored it away in his pocket once again. "Taking back my knife," he replied. Mariku glanced down and saw the blood dripping from the tips of Bakura's fingers.

"You're bleeding," he whispered.

"Its no big deal," Bakura shrugged, taking the subject lightly. Fitfully, Mariku struck him across the face. Bakura's head was turned slightly in one direction. He did nothing and said nothing. "I told you not to fucking cut yourself!"

"Well, its not like it fucking hurts," Bakura replied calmly.

"Why? Why do it at all?" Mariku looked to be on the verge of tears. He struck him again. His fist ached as much as his heart had begun to. Bakura didn't become angry, nor did he strike back. "It helps me feel better," he mummbled.Mariku looked absolutely disgusted with him.

Bakura held out the knife to the sandy-blonde Yami. "I don't want this. You can have it if you want it." Mariku angrily snatched it away. Bakura walked over to the park bench across the way. He laid down and watched his breath dance on the wind until he finally nodded off.

Marikut sat down in the snow and stared at the knife. It seemed to be well-cared for. He glanced over at Bakura, and saw the blood still oozing from the sleeve of his coat.

He pulled his sleeve back, wondering how it would feel, and dug the blade into his own flesh. "I understand," he thought as he tore further down his arm and watched the wonderful crimson come free from within.

"What the-" Malik stopped in his tracks. "What is it?" Ryou turned and looked back at him. "Are you….? Mariku…" he whispered and bolted off with Ryou running after him and catching up.

Bakura's eyes opened slightly as he stared off in Mariku's direction. He noticed that Mariku was copying his example.

"Now do you understand?"

Mariku had gone mad in his new addiction. He continued to cut himself. Bakura padded over to Mariku and sampled a taste of his blood. The tomb keeper's clothing was now steeped in his blood. Bakura took the knife and used his dark magic to heal the minor cuts Mariku was giving himself.

"You shouldn't do it in mass amounts. You could kill yourself," he explained to Mariku. The Sandy-blonde stared at his newfound scars with delight. He quickly grabbed for the knife, beginning the addictive process all over again. Bakura stole it away and put it in his pocket where Mariku couldn't easily get to it, now that Bakura was aware of his intentions.

Mariku backed up against the nearest tree, his breathing had become much heavier and his eyes were wide. He had addiction written all over his face.

"I….need that knife…" he thought. "G-Give me back the knife," he muttered.

"I think you are done for today." Bakura stepped back. "I-I don't need your…knife…" Mariku whispered loud enough for Bakura to hear. He then disappeared leaving behind a print of his body in the snow.

Mariku appeared back at his mansion. He ran to the kitchen and searched frantically for a knife of some kind that was sharp enough for the job.

Bakura could feel that something bad was about to happen. He was quick to get back to the mansion of the other Yami. He ran in and saw pots, pans, and other such kitchen items being thrown from the kitchen.

"God damn it! Stop it, Mariku!"

Mariku ran by with a rather large chefs knife in hand. He bolted up the numerous flights of stairs, down the many corriders, and into his master bedroom; all with Bakura trailing behind him. The sandy-blonde locked the double doors of his bedroom and leaned against them with the knife, cutting into himself once again. The dripping crimson was absorbed into the pure white carpet.

Bakura loudly beat on the locked doors. "You know, if you keep doing this that you might die, you stupid bastard!"

"I can't stop…" Mariku chanted in a dulled tone. "Its so addictive…such pleasure," he said more loudly that it could be heard beyond the doors of his room.

"You can find other ways of feeling pleasure," Bakura commented and left him to do as he pleased. He flopped down on the Futon in front of the biggest television screen he had seen yet, and flipped through the endless number of channels.

Mariku floated up to the ceiling where he could not be interrupted. He continued to mutalate his body. He began to feel faint, but that wasn't about to stop him.

Bakura could feel the heavy burning sensation running throughout his own body. "You should stop now!" He yelled as louldy as possible.

Malik and Ryou walked in through the front door just as Bakura made his last comment. "Bakura?" Malik said a little shocked to see him in the house. "What are you doing here?"

"I came back here…you should tell Mariku to stop being an ass."

"An ass?" Malik echoed, and looked back at Ryou with a puzzled look.

A large crash suddenly ran throughout the house. Malik jumped a little and looked around as if a shot had just been fired.

"He won't stop cutting himself. He has no control whatsoever, does he?"

Malik bolted up the stairs. He burst into the room, breaking through the locked doors and was horrified to see what he did. His Yami had fallen onto his wooden dresser, smashing it to bits and pieces, and he was unconscious and drenched in blood.

Malik pulled him from the broken pile of wood and held him close. "Mariku," he screamed, pulling him even closer. Ryou's hands were clasped over his mouth and tears rested in his eyes, just waiting to errupt.

Bakura came walked into the room and leaned against the wall with his arms folded over his chest. Malik glared daggers at him. "You stupid bastard! How could you let him do this?" Malik yelled from across the room. Tears flooded form his light purple orbs.

"My god, it wasn't my fucking fault! I told him to stop, but he wouldn't!" Bakura retorted. Malik laid Mariku down gently and charged at Bakura, blinded by his hatred for the tomb robber. He threw several punches, but none fazed Bakura even the slightest. "You could have physically stopped him, but instead you went to watch tv!"

Bakura pushed him to the ground and hovered over him. "If he won't fucking listen to me, then he obviously doesn't give a damn about what I have to say."

Well, I am just going to leave you hanging there. Don't worry, there is more, but I wanted to see how badly you people wanted the chapter. Plz RxR! Peace, love, and padded walls.


	16. Chapter 19

Bakura turned and headed out of the room and for the stairs. Suddenly, he felt a firm grip on his right shoulder and glanced back to see Malik quivering with his head lowered and tears streaming from his light purple orbs.

"I knew it all along…you don't give a damn about him. You were merely toying with him or something just as sick…just like you do to Ryou!" Malik burst out through clenched teeth.

Mariku had slowly become conscious and could hear most of what was being yelled outside his bedroom.

"Don't you fucking give me that speech! You have no idea, no clue what I do and do not feel! Just shut the hell up and leave me alone!" Bakura spat angrily at Malik who still had a firm grip on his shoulder.

"This is all your fault, Bakura!" Malik blamed. He lifted his head and glared at Bakura intenstly with a fire of anger and hatred burning in his eyes.

"I know, its my fault! Its always my fucking fault!" Bakura retorted sarcastically.

"He means nothing to you…" Malik said in a dulled tone. Bakura was shaking with rage, trying hard not to take it out on Mlik. "That's not true…" he pivoted and pushed Malik's hand away, "I fucking love him! I admit that I don't know how to show it, but I do! You need to just fuck off and worry about your own damn life! Bakura retorted, his yelling more passionate and heart-felt than before.

He turned from Malik and punched the wall, his fist being forced through the painted wall. "Bakura, just stay the hell away from him…" Malik whispered not wanting anymore trouble from the tomb robber.

"Fine," he removed his hand from the wall and turned in the direction of the stairs down the corridor, "I will…it would be better for me anyway…"

He walked down the long hallway to the stairs and disappeared from sight. He grabbed his coat at the base floor and slammed the front door closed behind him.

Malik looked back to see Ryou poking his head out of the doorway of Mariku's room with tears in his eyes. "I-" Malik paused, unsure of what to say. Ryou sighed and looked out a little further at the new hole in the wall.

Malik walked into the room, past the frightened Ryou and stared blankly out the window for a moment. "Was I right to…" he paused mid-sentence and looked down where Mariku should have been, but was not. There was only a blood stain, nothing more.

"Gone again," Malik whispered. He tiredly walked over to the tomb keeper's bed and sat down; Ryou sat beside him. "I'm such an idiot," Malik sighed heavily and leaned forward with his arms on his thighs, his head hung low, and tears suspended in his eyes.

Ryou placed a hand on Malik's shoulder. He too had tears in his eyes. "You were only defending Mariku, there's nothing wrong with that, Malik…" He leaned over onto Malik and rested his head on the other's shoulder.

Malik collapsed onto Ryou's lap with his head down, and his arms were tightly wrapped around the other Hikari's waist. He cried into the cloth of Ryou's shirt and mumbled angry words to himself.

It had been several hours since either Yami disappeared from the mansion. Mariku had used what little magic he had access to, due to being weakened from the blood loss, to heal his cut up body. Only a few cuts remained to bleed out the impurities of his soul.

He was quietly laying in snow that had freshly blanketed the park grounds. He was a little surprised to feel Bakura's life energy not far away and coming ever closer. All Mariku was thinking about now was what he could say to Bakura, but what could he possibly say? He heard the fight from his room; he had an idea of how Bakura felt, he just didn't know what to do.

The snow had barely begun is gently descent to the earth. The chilled breeze blew over Mariku's improperly clothed body. Bakura had walked in another direction and sat down on a bench under a tree to get out of the snow and think. Mariku stood, deciding that he needed to appologize for the horrid way he acted.

He teleported himself onto one of the higher branches of the tree towering over Bakura who was still sitting quietly on the bench.

Bakura seemed to be cold, but he was trying not to show it, his hair was slightly wet and matted against his face. Bakura stood, his trench coat dancing on the strong wind and blizzard that had developed. Mariku jumped down in front of him, surprising the robber who hadn't sensed him at all because his mind was busy with other thoughts.

The tomb robber's eyes were somewhat red, as if he had been crying for a short while.

"Bakura?" Mariku said confused by the tears and wipped them away.

"Mariku?" Bakura said also surprised that Mariku was actually up and walking, especially in this weather and in what little clothing he had on.

The sandy-blonde wrapped his arms around Bakura's slim waist. "I'm sorry." The tomb robber quickly appologized.

His eyes drew shut, the wind whipping him in the face along with small ice particles formed from what was snow. Mariku released him and looked up at him. His own eyes were filled with sadness and fear.

"You shouldn't be the one to appologize." Mariku replied.

Bakura opened his chocolate eyes just a pinch and looked into the dark purple pools of the other.

"Why do you say that?" Bakura looked down at the cold blonde.

"I lost control of myself….and you tried to talk me out of it."

Bakura one cold hand, cupping Mariku's face gently. "I am not the one to tell you what to do…"

"Yes, you are….I need you…" Mariku said very sincerely.

Suddenly, he disappeared in a flurry of snow. Bakura looked around confused and unsure of where the other had gone.

He arched a brow and shrugged. Abruptly, a stiffled voice called out his name. Bakura turned about and looked again for Mariku, this time realizing that he hadn't merely disappeared but had been buried in large pile of snow that had fallen from the tree. He dug at least eight feet into the snow before he found the first of many blonde spikes. He pulled Mariku out of his snowy prison, and he was gasping for air and coughing.

"Are you all right, Mariku?" Bakura brushed away the snow from Mariku's clothing. The sandy-blonde nodded, still coughing and trying to recall his breath.

The sound of something breaking whispered in the wind. The branches of the large tree were beginning to break under the pressure of the snow that was quickly falling. One branch did indeed break free and fell quickly in theif direction.

Bakura was hasty to push Mariku out of the way, falling on top of him to protect his bare torso. Another branch fell, followed by more. Suddenly, the snow was spattered with crimson.

"Damn it…" Bakura growled.

Mariku moaned and was unconscious. Bakura moved him out of the way of the last falling branch. Mariku was safe, but unfortunately, the tomb robber was trapped under its weight. The pain was unbearable. He looked up at Mariku to see his hair matted with blood. "Damn it…" he again cursed.

He looked around frantically for help. Off in the distance, two shadows appeared in the snowy blur. Bakura's vision went black and he passed out, holding Mariku's hand.

The two shadows approached the pair of males. It was Ryou and Malik who were shocked to see their yami's both unconscious and hurt. They worked quickly to get the yami's out of the snow storm and dragged them both back to Mariku's mansion.

After two long hours of bathing, bandaging and hard work, the two yami's had been placed in separate rooms of the mansion to rest.

Malik had falled asleep, slumped over the edge of Mariku's bed; and Ryou was awake and sitting near Bakura's bed.

The lightly sleeping tomb keeper stirred, both purple pools crept open and glanced about the room, then spotting Malik laying face down at the edge of the bed. The little Hikari too stirred and came to life and sat up to see his Yami awake and oddly enough backed away from him.

"Mariku…?" He said groggily. Slowly he inched toward the cowering male, "Are you okay?"

An ear-shattering scream rang throughout the spacious mansion. Malik fell backwards off of the bed and covered his ears. Ryou rushed into the room with his ears covered as well. He watched as Mariku backed up against the head of his bed whilst screaming and repeating himself, "Stay the hell away from me!"

"What's going on?" Ryou yelled to Malik.

"I dunno, he just started screaming!"

Ryou approached the Ishtar slowly. "Mariku! Stop it!"

Mariku ceased his screaming fit and threw a pillow at Ryou. "Stay away!" He curled up tightly with his face buried in his hands; and was shaking in fear. "Mariku, its okay. We won't hurt you." Ryou tried to assure. From out of nowhere, a light purple energy barrier flooded over Mariku.

Malik sighed heavily and walked out of the room feeling helpless and confused. Ryou followed him out into the hallway. "I think he has amnesia." Ryou said calmly. "He doesn't remember who we are or anything."

Malik sunk down to the ground and leaned back against the wall, burying his face in his crossed arms. "Great…This is just fan-fucking-tastic…" he grumbled through his arms.

Ryou sat down beside him and thought for a moment. "Is there any way to snap him out of this?" Ryou questioned. "Not that I know of right now." He replied.

Malik became quiet, Ryou as well. The sandy-blonde Hikari brooded for a moment. "Ryou, have you ever met anyone with amnesia?"

Ryou shook his head. He leaned forward expecting to hear a short speech.

"Well, Mariku is like a big puppy…" Malik began to put into words. "A really big puppy…." He thought as his thoughts wandered. "What do you mean?" Ryou inquired.

"If you've seen his waist line lately you would understand-"

"No, not that! The puppy part!" Ryou interrupted.

"Oh yeah, well, he doesn't really remember anything."

Ryou understood, but then again, he didn't. "Shouldn't we just-"

"No, this is something that will just take time. We can't just clobber him and expect everything to be okay. That never got anyone anywhere." He looked over at Ryou seriously. "Remind yourself that Mariku is not a normal human. His powers may prolongue the effect or just plain get in the way of his recovery." Malik explained.

The sandy-blonde Hikari got up and walked back into the bedroom. Not as surprising as it should have been, the room was empty. The window was jammed open, allowing the cold breath of winter to flow in.

Malik sunk to his knees and Ryou knelt beside him. He attempted to comfort him and give him hope that the Yami could be found. Malik glared at Ryou who was a little shocked to see such a look.

"Don't try to tell me that we can find him so easily! For all I know, he could be in Spain! I don't know where his unbridaled powers will take him now that he has no knowledge of them," Malik said with concern.

It had been several hours since Mariku's disappearing act. He had wandered around the neighborhood, not far from the house. He appeared to be looking for something that could not be found. He pivoted around the corner sharply and came upon the park.

It was abandoned, had plenty of hiding places, and it was quiet. He bolted across the street and ran down the long snow spattered pathway, until he came upon a good tree to hide in. He climbed high into its branches to have a good cry.

He was scared and unsure of where he was or what to do next. All he knew was that this was not Egypt, and his home was no where around.


	17. Chapter 20

Okay, I said I was going post another chapter yesterday and I wasn't able to. So, I am going to put this up and try my damnedest to get more chapters up! (is that even a word? Whatever….) Here you are and I hope you find this somewhat entertaining. Megan and I had quite a bit of fun around this part of this story

After leaving Bakura's room with his arms spread and making the noise of an airplane, he ran to the kitchen in hopes of finding something appealing and edible.

He glanced around the room unsure of where to start his search, and in looking about the room he noticed a small orange bottle on the counter. It no longer had its label, for that was peeled away, and it didn't seem strange in any way, shape or form.

Mariku uncapped its lid and delved into the orange plastic bottle. Inside, he pulled out something small and purple that looked a lot like skittles, but smaller. Mariku gave it no thought and ingested them. However, that was not enough to satisfy is appetite.

He recapped the bottle and set it aside to find something else to eat. He rummaged through the cabinets and came upon several good looking things. A very familiar, but new box of Cheerios, a brand-new package of Oreo's and a gallon of Milk to take it down with.

He carried the armful of items to the living room and plunked down onto the couch. Since it was Saturday there were cartoons up a yinyang. Mariku flipped through several channels in an attempt to not miss anything in each cartoon. He chowed down on the food items as he did so.

He downed the entire box of cereal without any trouble, then devoured each and every Oreo, and chugged the entire gallon of Milk. Suddenly feeling queasy, with his hands on his bloated gut, he laid down on the couch with his head propped up on a pillow.

He whimpered as his stomach churned, and he was very uncomfortable at the moment. Suddenly, he leapt from the couch and darted out into the hallway and up the stairs to the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind himself. He leant over the toilet and purged.

Bakura had been awoken by the disturbing sounds emitting from the bathroom. He groaned and again rolled out of bed. Quietly he walked out of his room and followed the gross sound to the closed bathroom door. The silver-haired male knocked on the door once and listened again hearing the same gross noise.

"What's going on in there?"

Mariku jumped at the sudden sound of Bakura's voice and became unnerved which accompanied how disgusting his body felt right now. "N-Nothing…" Mariku purged once more. He felt weak and his body hurt just as much as his stomach. He crawled into the bathe to take a break and a few deep breaths.

Bakura became impatient and walked into the bathroom to see Mariku laying where he was with his arms slung over his stomach tightly, and looking quite pallid and lifeless.

"What the hell?" Bakura said slightly surprised by the sight of Mariku and his bathroom, which was now a big mess that he would surely end up cleaning himself. "What did you eat?"

"Oreos….Cheerios…Milk…." Mariku listed and groaned at the mere thought of food.

"I guess that means you are sick."

Mariku rolled onto his side and moaned, his stomach near empty and upset with him. "Well," Bakura sighed deeply and rubbed the back of his neck. "You aren't going to stay in here all day."

He reached into the bathe and gently took hold of Mariku's arm. The tomb keeper whipped his arm away from Bakura, "Don't touch me….I don't feel good," he groaned.

"God…" he rolled his eyes. "I know you don't feel good, I'm not stupid, but you can't stay in the damn shower." Mariku turned back over and refused to budge. Bakura left the bathroom in a huff and returned promptly with a blanket and pillow from Ryou's room.

"Fine, stay here and wretch to your heart's content," Bakura growled.

"I'm done."

"I doubt it," Bakura retorted. He threw the pillow and blanket at Mariku roughly. "Don't wretch on those. Just stay put in case you need to vomit again."

"Okay, Bakura," Mariku said in a raspy tone. Bakura nodded and smiled slightly as he was at least pleased that Mariku had said his name without flaw. He assissted Mariku in getting comfortable by tucking the pillow behind his head and covering him with blanket.

Bakura left him there to rest and went to the living room. He looked through a stack of movies on a shelf under the television and pulled the Exorcist from the rest. He put the film into dvd player and sat down to enjoy the film.

Upstairs in the bathroom, Mariku could hear the sound of the moving coming in through the vent near the sink. Being the curious person he was, he crawled out of the shower and crept downstairs where at the base of the stairs eh could see the mocing being viewed on the large screen television.

Bakura had seen this movie so many times that by now it was to the point where it was more interesting than frightening. Suddenly, a loud shriek rang throughout the house that was not part of the film. Bakura ran out into the hallway, skidded to a halt, and saw Mariku huddled up on the bottom stair with his face buried in his hands.

The thief went and turned off his movie and returned to Mariku's side. "What are you doing?" Bakura sat down on the step and put his arm around Mariku's shoulder.

"I was just watching the movie…" Mariku glanced up at him with tears staining his pallid face.

Bakura pushed Mariku's bangs from his eyes and placed them neatly behind his ears. "I knew you would scream if you watched this movie." He cupped Mariku's cheek and his touch was warm and comforting. "You should go back upstairs and rest."

"But I…" he paused. "Yes, Bakura…" He started up the tall staircase with his head hung low. Bakura groaned and marched up the stairs and dragged Mariku back downstairs. "You can stay down here, just stop whining."

He pushed Mariku into the living room and onto the couch. He took his film from the dvd and replaced it on the shelf. "What do you want to watch?" He growled.

"What movies do you have that aren't creepy?" Mariku returned with his own question.

"What is this twenty questions?" Bakura mummbled.

He shrugged and had Mariku come to the shelf to pick something out. The sandy-blonde pulled one from the lot and read its case. Bakura sat back in the couch and patiently waited for Mariku to find something to watch. "How about this one, Bakura?"

"What is it called?"

Mariku sounded the label out to himself first "P…or…n….porn," he sounded out to the thief. Bakura jumped up from the couch and snatched the tape away, "That one is scary."

He walked to the kitchen and set the tape on the counter for a minute, then he ransacked the top drawer of one of the counters. He smirked with a hammer in his hands which he used to violently bash the tape to bits. He tossed away its remains and returned to the living room casually as if nothing had happened.

Mariku was looking through the lot once again. This time he came up with _The Little Mermaid_. "What about this movie?"

"Fine," Bakura popped the video tape into the VHS and started the tape. Mariku backed up to the couch and fell into it as he was already entertained by the advertisements. Bakura flopped down next to him and sighed deeply. "I hate this movie," he thought to himself as the feature began.

"It's starting!" Mariku exclaimed with excitement heavy on his expression. He was practically bouncing off the walls. Bakura grabbed hold of Mariku to hold him still and nodded. "Shh..the movie is starting and you have to be quiet."

Mariku instantaneously shut up and held as still as was possible. As the feature began, Mariku unknowingly leaned against Bakura and made an odd happy little noise.

The thief pretneded not to have noticed that Mariku was leaning against him even though he had and he was too tired to do anything about it.

About halfway through the unbearable movie, Mariku had nodded off, while Bakura was restraining himself from destroying his hikari's favorite videotape.

Mariku cuddled up a little closer to Bakura's warm body and snored lightly. Bakura glanced down at the sandy-blonde and was reminding himself of his burning hatred for children.

He stood carefully and laid Mariku down gently with a couch pillow pushed under his head. The pallid-haired male dragged himself upstairs to his bedroom and glanced around boredly. He stopped and was staring at his dresser with a smirk on his face and his one brow cocked as it had been lately.

He grabbed one of his many filthy yaoi magazines and collapsed onto his bed front side down. He shuffled through the pages with a smirk that grew even more with each turn of the page. He just happened to giggle at the sight of a few of his favorite pictures and found himself even more arroused than before.

Mariku had not slept long. The living room was insufferably cold all of the sudden. Mariku slowly came to, sat up, and rubbed at his sleep-filled eyes. He glanced around and took notice that Bakura was missing.

The forgetful male stood from the couch and stretched his limbs as far as they would go, and then made his way upstairs to the tomb robber's bedroom where he was most likely to be.

Mariku peered around the corner into the room and saw Bakura smirking at a magazine that he couldn't make out from where he was standing. "Bakura?"

The thief glanced up at the open doorway. His eyes shot wide and his face turned bright red. He stuffed the magazine behind his pillow and stared wide-eyed at Mariku. "Wh-What are you doing in here?" Bakura stammered.

Mariku walked into the room and leaned against the wall with his hands in his pocket and moved back and forth in a rocking motion with his head tilted forward.

"Are you mad at me, Bakura?"

"No," he simply replied and tried to recall a moment when he had ever really been mad since Mariku had come to stay with him.

"Then why did you leave me downstairs by myself?"

"You feel asleep and I didn't want to wake you."

Bakura and Mariku sat in an awkward silence. Bakura leaned deeper into his pillow and looked away from Mariku assuming that he had no further questions.

"Do you like me being here?"

Bakura looked back at Mariku and shook his head a little and smiled out the corner of his mouth. "Has anyone ever told you that you ask too many questions?" he said jokingly. Mariku just stared at him.

"Well…its hard to have some real fun…but I understand your current situation." Bakura laid down on his bed and watched as the puzzled Yami was trying to comprehend what he had said. "What situation?"

"You have amnesia, stupid. Or did you forget that too?" Bakura laughed lightly at the joke he had unwittingly made.

"Is that serious?"

"It depends."

Bakura leaned his head on his arm. He noted that Mariku had become somewhat pale with worry and horror apparent in his expression. "Am I gonna die?"

"No," Bakura quickly shot back. Mariku sighed his relief and leaned back against the wall and took his hands from his pockets. Bakura rolled over onto his side, facing away from Mariku. The forgetful male padded around to the other side of the bed. "What's wrong?"

It was strange for both men to see a tear fall from Bakura's deep chocolate orbs. "What the hell is this?" Bakura muttered and quickly wiped at his eyes and stared at his wet palm with an expression of surprise. "You probably wouldn't understand this, but I want my Mariku back." He admitted.

"Did you like me more that way?"

"Yeah, I didn't realize it, but I guess I did."

Mariku sat down on the edge of the bed and leaned down close to Bakura. "Is there something I can do to make you feel better?"

Bakura smiled at Mariku and chuckled. "Thanks, but don't worry about it." He sat up and wrapped his arm around Mariku's neck playfully and ruffled his hair. Mariku giggled and tried to push him away.

Bakura's smile faded away. He let go of Mariku's neck and slumped back against the headboard. The egyptian thief looked over at the rose sitting neatly in its glass of water and had not been touched since it was put there.

Mariku looked at the beautfiul plant as well. "Who gave you that?"

"You did only a short while ago."

"I did? Well, its very nice looking."

Bakura nodded in agreement. He pulled Mariku close to his body and put his arm around him. He noticed that Mariku had not broken eye contact with the white rose and chuckled. He pulled it from the glass and held it out to Mariku. "It may seem a bit silly, but maybe this rose can help you to remember something. Go ahead, take it."

Mariku reached out for the rose and grasped it tightly in his hand and pricked his skin in several places with the thorns on the plant's stem. "Oww," he dropped the pallid rose and stared at his aching hand. "That hurt," he complained.

"Well, the normal you would find that to be enjoyable," Bakura commented and picked the plant up off of the carpet and replaced it in the glass of water. "Why would that feel good?" Mariku retorted with little understanding of his sadistic side's hobbies.

Suddenly, Mariku was hit hard by a horrible flashback filled with pain and blood. His tan skin took on a more pale color. "What's wrong Mariku?"

The tomb keeper glanced down at his arms and was horrified to see his skin lambaste with scars that he hadn't bothered to notice earlier. He seemed to be in a panic. Mariku's frantic stare shifted around the room until he spotted the pocket knife he saw in his flashback, which was laying nicely on Bakura's nightstand.

The tomb keeper got off of the bed and grabbed the pocket knife. He sat against the wall on the hardwood floor and stared at the small weapon with what seemed to be tears pooling in his lavender orbs.

"What the hell are you doing?" Bakura inquired unsure of what was to come of this.

"I remember this…this knife," Mariku thought to himself. "this is the knife," he said aloud.

"What of it" Bakura looked at Mariku curiously. He didn't understand the sudden interest Mariku had taken in the knife.

Mariku opened the knife and without thinking dug its blade into his already scarred arm and drug it up to his shoulder in one long stroke. It was as if he was in a trance. Tears came from his pain as he realized what he was doing and pulled the blade from his arm.

Bakura shocked and wide-eyed. He leapt out of bed and quickly snatched the knife from his shaking hand. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Bakura exclaimed. "Don't fucking do that to yourself!"

Mariku winced and leaned back against the wall, "Doesn't hurt…not one bit…"

"Then if it doesn't hurt, why are you crying?" Bakura glared at Mariku angrily and knelt down beside him.

"It still does!" Mariku's body was practically screaming. "Yeah…well…" he whispered instead.

"Come on, don't try to fake it. I know the pain is killing you." Bakura retorted.

"Yes! It does!" His body was screaming. "Are you happy now, Bakura?" He questioned the tomb robber. He winced when he shifted his arm. The pain was sprinting through his body and it was growing more unbearable with every minute that passed. "I want you to be happy…I don't want you to hate me, Bakura."

Tears dashed down his cheek from his pain-clouded eyes. Bakura reached under his bed and pulled a larger first-aid kit from beneath. He rummaged through the box until he found the same bandages he had used the last time Mariku had encountered a knife. He went about the long task of bandaging Mariku's crimson stained arm. "Where the hell did you get the idea that I hated you? I don't hate you, so you can just stop with that, okay?"

"Yes, Bakura." The sandy-blonde lowered his head and whipered for Bakura had tightened the bandage far too much. The theif eased off a bit to relieve his pain and tied off the bandage at the peak of Mariku's shoulder. "You need to stop trying to please me, Mariku."

The thief pushed the kit back under his bed and returned to the top of his comforter. He laid his head back down on his pillow and stared up at the ceiling.

"But Bakura, you are so sad…I just want you to be happy. Then we can play together, just like brothers do," Mariku said in an affectionate tone.

"Mariku, I don't deserve a brother. Sometimes I don't even deserve Ryou."

"Why?" Mariku stood from the floor and leaned back against the wall looking disoriented and feeling just the same.

"I'm a horrible person…what else can be said?"

"You aren't a meanie though. You're really nice."

"Thanks…I guess…" Bakura smiled a slender smile and turned his stare to Mariku. His gazed deeply into the violet orbs of the other. He saw the childish half of Mariku, but the other had gone; the other he longed for.

"I'll just leave you alone," Marik whipsered. He pivoted and quietly made way for the door.

Finally! Okay, I know this was a long chapter and I appologize, but I couldn't find a really great place to drop off and I finally found one! YAY! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope you are enjoying the story so far. Please review, and if you would, rate this story on a scale of 1-10, if you wouldn't mind. Later!


	18. Chapter 21

Thank you loads for all of the wonderful reviews I am getting and I am very pleased! I'm excited that you all like the story as much as you say you do.

I also think I need to thank my roleplaying bud for…roleplaying with me its been so much fun and she plays a very convincing Bakura!

Warning: In this chapter things are gonna get a tad bit heated, but nothing too extensive and graphic. It won't even get that far. I am not good at writing lemons anyways so there isn't anything to worry about.

On with the chapter!

Mariku reached for the doorknob, he saw a shadow overlap his own and glanced back to see Bakura standing behind him. Bakura shut the slightly ajar door and took Mariku's hand from the knob. "You can stay if you want," he said in a very deep and sexy tone which Mariku did not understand.

"I can?" Mariku looked up at him with an expression of amazement on his face. He wasn't expecting Bakura to actually allow him to stay in the room.

"Yes…" Bakura replied. The thief led the forgetful male to his bed and allowed him to sit. Mariku had begun to felt uneasy. Bakura had never been so gentle with him during his stay in the thief's house.

The pallid-hair put his hands on Mariku's shoulders and gently pushed him down onto the comforter and pillows. "Mariku, would you like to play a very adult game?" He inquired with a sly smile expressed on his features.

Mariku's face lit up with excitement even though he still had no idea what Bakura was getting at. "What game are we gonna play?" he said with excitement present in his tone.

"I don't think you've played this game before so I will have to teach you the rules."

"Okay, so what are they?"

"No screaming and no wiggling. Can you remember that?" Mariku nodded and waited for the game to commence.

Bakura climbed on top of him and pressed his soft, warm lips to Mariku's. The tomb keeper's eyes widened in astonishment. He wanted to push Bakura away, but he didn't want to break the rules and lose the game. He had always been a very competative youngster and refused to lose any game.

Bakura grabbed at the hem of the other's shirt and lifted it over his head, tossing it down onto the hardwood floor. Mariku's slim body quivered as the frigid air rushed over his bare torso and enveloped his upper body.

The other kissed his body delicately and worked his way back up to Mariku's irresistable mouth. He inserted his tongue into the frightened other's mouth and explored every inch that he could. Mariku squirmed and wanted to be free of the robber.

Suddenly, his stomach felt uneasy to the point that he pushed Bakura off, onto the floor, and dashed for the bathroom. Bakura stood from the ground and scratched his head. "What the-? Mariku?"

He wandered out to the open doorway of the bathroom and caught Mariku vomitting for the second or third time, but it didn't matter because he wasn't keeping count. He held back Mariku's long bangs for him and waited for him to finish. "You know, you wretch like a pregnant woman. You aren't pregnant, right? I mean, I didn't even get into your pants." Bakura commented.

Mariku grabbed a cloth from the towel rack and wiped off his mouth. He threw it at the wall with frustration apparent in his actions and leaned back against the wall. Bakura knelt down beside him and placed his hand on Mariku's brow. He was burning to the touch and Bakura quickly withdrew. "How is it that you are able to get this sick so easily?"

"What did you eat this time?" He inquired of Mariku. The feverish egyptian shook his head and looked up at Bakura. "I haven't eaten since this morning."

"You had to have eaten something. How else would you get sick? Tell me again what you ate this morning."

Mariku listed everything he had earlier eaten and all was accounted for, accept for the skittle-like things that he had not earlier mentioned. Bakura had a bad feeling about the "candy" Mariku had mentioned. He was never one to keep anything sugery in his house, except for the things Ryou ocassionally purchased for himself.

The thief hurriedly went downstairs and took one quick glance around the kitchen. Suddenly something orange caught his attention; a little orange pill bottle on the work surface. He then realized what had happened and new that Mariku was in a bit of a bind. He grabbed the telephone and called poison control. Since this case was minor and easier to take care of than most, Bakura was given instructions to follow and was wished the best of luck.

Mariku was curled up with his knees tight to his chest. He felt like he was going to fall apart into several pieces. His temperature was high, his vision was clouded in pain, and he felt like he couldn't breathe; like the air had been sucked from his chest and the entire room.

Bakura came back into the room where Mariku was laying and rolled up the sleeves of his black button-down shirt. He sorted through the more disgusting contents of the toilet bowl, to confirm what he had thought to have happened; and came up with a few of the pills that Mariku had thrown up a few minutes ago.

"These were Ryou's pain pills," Bakura said sounding more concerned and serious than upset. Mariku moaned as the pain in his stomach returned at full-force.

"While you are in my house, it is imparative that you ask me what is okay to eat and what is not…" Bakura disposed of the medication and washed off his arm. He turned back to Mariku and rolled up the other sleeve with a deep sigh following. "Well, let's get to work." Bakura grabbed Mariku by his uninjured arm and pulled him over to the toilet.

"What are you doing, Bakura?" Mariku exclaimed in a panic.

"You've got vomit up the rest of the medication. I know there are more in you. I filled that perscription a few days ago and now the bottle is more than half empty," Bakura retorted as he tried to hold Mariku still.

"I don't want to!" Mariku rebelled against Bakura but found that he was too weak to break free of restraint.

Bakura growled as he restricted Mariku's movement with his body and forcefully stuck his own finger down Mariku's throat in order to make him wretch. Bakura's actions were sucessful, but he still hadn't coughed up all of the medication.

He repeated this several times, for at least an hour, before Mariku had nothing more to expell from his system.

He released Mariku and watched him exhaustedly collapse onto the bathroom tile. Bakura collapsed next to him as his energy was also spent. "Good job, Mariku…" He commended.

"Shut up," Malik hissed in a rasped voice.

"Do you feel better?"

"A little…"

"Good."

There was a long silence in the room. The only sounds to be heard was the heavy breathing of both egyptians; and the shifting of the two bodies in an attempt of comfort on the tile.

Mariku peered over at the thief who was spread out beside him. His chest slowly rose and fell as he rested. "Are…you mad again?" Mariku whispered.

Bakura opened his closed eyes and glanced over at Mariku, then turning his sights to the ceiling. "I am just upset that you put up such a fight when I was trying to help you. I had to force you to wretch and that I did not enjoy."

"I'm sorry, Bakura," Mariku appologized in a quiet voice. He moved his tired body closer to Bakura's and appologized again with a tear in his eye.

"Just try to be more careful, that's all I ask of you," Bakura put his arm around Mariku and kissed his forehead lightly. He sighed in relief. This was the most frightening experience he had ever had to go through even though he hadn't shown an ounce of fear.

Mariku's fever was disappearing, thankfully, and he was feeling and looking more regular.

Bakura sat up against the wall nearest him and pulled Mariku to his lap where he could rest his head. He ran his fingers through Mariku's hair and gently brushed his bangs from his face.

"You're warm…" Mariku said softly.

"I guess…" Bakura replied.

Mariku gazed up at the thief and thought a moment before he spoke. "Do you wanna be my big brother? You didn't tell me earlier."

Bakura gawked at Mariku and seemed surprised that his thoughts had wandered back to that subject, especially after he had tried to get into his pants earlier. "But I…what I did earlier…" Bakura lowered his eyes in a direction away from Mariku.

"Oh yeah, did I lose?"

"What?"

"Did I win or lose that game we played earlier?" Bakura was beginning to think that Mariku hadn't yet gotten the point of Bakura's "game".

"Yeah, whatever."

Mariku pressed his question again and Bakura gave him the simple answer of "whatever" as he had been lately. Mariku grinned and closed his eyes as he fantasized what it was going to be like now that Bakura was his "brother".

"It'll be….great…" Mariku whispered as he nodded off.

Bakura shrugged and continued to run his fingers through Mariku's hair. He then thought to himself, "What the hell am I saying? I want him as my lover, not my brother. You can't fuck your brother, its just not done."

Bakura very carefully transferred Mariku from the bathroom to the Guest room a short ways down the corridor of the second floor. He slid Mariku in under the red bed sheets and tried to make him comfortable for now.

As he was leaving, he heard the rustling of the bed sheets and the cry of the springs as the other body moved. "Are you leaving Bakura?" The sweet voice called to him.

Bakura hunched over and frowned and then turned back and looked at Mariku with the same frowning and tired face. "I don't have to, I'm not tired," he regretably lied.

Mariku grinned and fully sat up in the bed. "Then if you aren't tired, we can have a sleep over!" Mariku said sounding so very excited, just has his expression proved.

Well, I am going to drop you there for tonight. Betcha can't wait to see what happens! Please review if you can catch the time! Toodles!


	19. Chapter 22

Hello! Thanks again for all of the wonderful reviews you've all given the story. You're gonna make me cry; in a good way of course. Well, I won't talk my head off, but I just wanted to say 'thanks' just like I have so many times before. ttyl.

Bakura gawked at Mariku with his jaw slightly on the drop. "A sleepover?" he echoed as a dumbfounded expression swept over his features. Mariku nodded with the same stupid grin stuck to his face.

"Aren't we a bit old for that?" Bakura inquired.

Mariku shook his head rapidly and fall backwards on the pillow in a dizzy manner. He giggled and looked back up at Bakura from where his head rested. Bakura crossed his arms behind his neck and glanced over at Mariku. "Besides the fact that we are too old for stupid little things like this, aren't you supposed to be at someone else's house to have a sleep over?"

"I know, and I am at your house."

Bakura rolled his eyes and laid back on the old mattress. Mariku crawled out from under the covers and laid on his stomach with his head rested on the palm of his right hand. He fiddled with Bakura's hair using the other hand; twirling the long white strands around his fingers and letting them slide of only to once again be wrapped around his fingers.

"Just think, we can stay up late and have so much fun." Mariku fantasized of everything that could be done and smiled out of the corner of his mouth.

Bakura pushed Mariku's hand from his hair and placed it back behind his head. "Fine, I'll play along. What do you suggest we do?"

Mariku leaned over Bakura's head and poked at the tip of his nose with his pointer finger. "How about you chose this time?" He offered.

Bakura slapped his hand away again and glared at him with an annoyed twitch in his left eye. "I don't even know what to do at these stupid things." He grumbled.

Mariku laid his head down on Bakura's chest and stroked it with his long thin fingers. "Well, you play games, and talk…" He mummbled as he thought. "We can even look at pictures of girls…"

Bakura blushed, but only because Mariku's fingers had danced their way down to his stomach and the soft touch of him was beginning to tickle just the slightest. Bakura's heart beat spead up as he held back laughter and also the feeling of jumping there other right there.

Mariku's eyes perked up as ideas of what to do filled his head. He clambered off of the bed and shuffled out of the room quickly. Now that he had left, Bakura's quickly beating heart had begun to return to its normal pace and he was becoming settled once again.

Just as he was gaining his calm, Mariku stumbled back into the room and tripped, dropping a few things on the floor, but picking them up quickly and taking them to the bed where he dropped everything; some more carefully than others.

He had pencils, paper, a few books stacked on eachother, two glass bottles of what he assumed was Root Beer, the portable cd player from Ryou's room, and some movies. Bakura was astonished that he was able to come up with this much stuff in so little time. "Isn't it a bit early to start the sleepover? I mean, its only five o' clock."

Mariku ignored him and dug through his small pile of stuff and grabbed a magazine from the pile, "We can look at this first."

"What is it?"

Mariku opened the magazine and in an instant his eyes were wide with shock and surprise. "Eeekkk!" He gasped as he stared widely at the picture. "What's he doing to that man?"

Bakura looked over quickly and his eyes too went wide when he saw that the magazine in Mariku's hands was one of his many yaoi porn magazines. Mariku dropped the magazine down on the bed and covered his burning eyes.

"Where did you get this?" Bakura eyes were as wide as ever and staring down at the bed in embarrasment. The magazine was held suffocatingly tight to his chest.

"It was under your pillow." Mariku said with a quiver in his tone.

Bakura looked at his book for the last time and tore it into bits and pieces; throwing its remains in the trash can. He turned his attention to Mariku who still had his hands clasped over his eyes. "What were you doing in my room?"

"I couldn't find paper."

"What makes you think I would have paper under my pillow?"

"I dunno…" Mariku sat down on the floor where he was standing and broke down into tears. Bakura sighed deeply and pulled Mariku up onto the bed next to him. "Just calm down. Its not that big of a deal."

Mariku sniffled and looked at Bakura who had a lazy look on his face but was giving him somewhat of a smile. He ruffled his hair and tickled Mariku's sides playfully. Mariku grinned a huge grin and giggled. "Thanks, Bakura. I feel better."

Bakura nodded and brushed Mariku's messy blonde bangs from his eyes. Mariku reached behind himself and grabbed at the too glass bottles of liquid that he had pulled from a box in the fridge.

He handed one to Bakura and sat back with his own. Just as he was about to open it Bakura up and grabbed it away from him. He sat up and looked at Mariku quite seriously.

"You can't have this." He stated flatly without giving a reason.

"Why not? You get one."

"If you are a kid, then you can't have beer. As you stated so clearly earlier, you are a kid, which now means you can't have this beverage. Got it?"

Mariku crossed his arms and pouted on the bed. Bakura popped the top of his bear and downed at least half of the bottle in a matter of seconds. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve and looked at the bottle. "Now that I think of it," he said before taking another swig. "I can think of game we can play." He downed the rest of it and replaced its lid.

Mariku's pout turned into a curious expression as he watched Bakura climb of off the bed and get onto his knees on the hardwood floor. Bakura motioned for him to follow, which he did do.

"Mariku, have you ever played a game with a bottle that you spin on the floor?"

Mariku shook his head and waited for Bakura to explain this game to him. "Fine then. What you do is spin this bottle and wait for it to stop. Whoever it stops on you have to kiss them. Got it?"

Mariku recalled Bakura's earlier game and how strange and uncomfortable it was, but being the competative soul he was he agreed to playing this game as well. He stood from the floor and left the room quickly. Bakura seemed confused that he had just agreed to play and then had left so quickly.

Mariku scurried down the hallway to little Ryou's room and grabbed a few of his stuffed animals from a very large pile in the corner, and returned to the guest room with them. He knelt back down and quietly placed the three chosen stuffies in what was now a circle. The first was a light brown bear with a green bowtie; the second was a pink rabbit; and the third was a green turtle wearing a top hat and spectacles.

"Now I am ready to play." Mariku sat back on his legs and put his hands in his lap.

"You can go first, Mariku." Bakura offered and handed Mariku the empty beer bottle. Mariku set it down on the floor and spun it. He waited most impatiently for the bottle to stop spinning. It slowed and came to hault, its tip pointing at the pink rabbit. He picked it up, pecked it on its fuzzy little noise, and took the liberty of hugging it as well.

It was now Bakura's turn to spin the bottle. He spun it quickly and sat back. He too seemed impatient, but not as much as Mariku had been. The bottle slowly came to a stop and was pointing at the stuffed turtle. Bakura seemed less than excited to kiss the ugly little stuffed animal. Mariku made sure to reinforce the rules and make Bakura kiss it, which he did and threw it back on the ground.

He made a horrid face as he wiped at his mouth with his sleeve as if the stuffy was infected with a deadly disease or worse. Mariku giggled at the very sight of Bakura's reaction, but then had to take his turn.

Again, the bottle came to a stop, but this time it was not a stuffed animal that it pointed at, but was the robber, the same one he didn't really want to kiss. Mariku leaned back in a most resistant manner and looked as thought he was prepared to run for his life.

"You have to play by the rules, Mariku. You forced me to do the same and now it is you who is being forced to play fairly." Bakura commented. Mariku gulped hard and crawled towards Bakura, pushing the bottle and the stuffed animals aside.

He sat on Bakura's lap as he was motioned to do and glanced up at him with a look of dismay. "Stop worrying, its not like I'm going to bite you." Bakura teased. He gently lifted Mariku's chin with his finger and pressed his lips lightly against Mariku's.

The sandy-blonde was wide-eyed at first and wanted to pull away, but something was keeping him from doing so. He brought both hands up to Bakura's face and pressed a little harder into the kiss. The tomb robber's hands ran up and down Mariku's sides slowly, causing the other to moan softly in his throat.

In a quick second, Mariku snapped out of his little trance and realized that Bakura's slimy tongue was edging its way down his throat. He placed his hands on Bakura's chest and forced himself away from Bakura, then scrambling out of the room, into Bakura's for a quick second , and down the stairs.

Bakura was leaning back on his hands and breathing heavily, staring out into the hallway and unsure of what had made him run. He jumped up from the floor and brushed himself off before continuing on downstairs.

The house had been taken over by an eerie silence. Bakura was actually slightly afraid because of this silence. It just plain creeped him out. "Mariku, where are you?" He called. "This isn't funny."

Mariku was crouched around the corner in Living Room and holding both hands to his aching head. He was being bombed by memories which were mixing with new memories from earlier today.

He opened his eyes to a squint and his vision blurred between the living room and an atmosphere of darkness, and it was raining. Suddenly, he was no longer switching between the two, and found himself in the rain. It felt so real and it almost was since it was an actual memory from his past.

(Flash Back)

Mariku was curled on the curb of the sidewalk near an alley. The streets were soaked by the heavy rains and the air was thick with fog and chilled. From the alley emitted sounds of angry words being exchanged between what sounded like two men.

He glanced around the corner and saw in the alley two men, as he had thought, bickering between one another. A dark purple mist had replaced the fog and it surrounded them both.

They each brandished two pure gold weapons. One being a Millenium item and the other a jewel encrusted dagger also made of gold. They leapt out of sight and all that could be heard was the clash of their weaponry. Then they came back into sight.

The palid-hair was down on the ground in a puddle of rain water with a dagger held to his throat. He had a sly look about him and his eyes stood out in the darkness.

"Don't force my hand, thief." The blondish one spoke in a dark tone. His light purple eyes were piercing and had a certain evil look about them. Mariku quickly turned back around the corner and looked absolutely frightened. He took a few deep breaths and looked back into the alley.

The sandy-blonde had drawn blood from the other's limbs, chest, and face. The other winced in pain, but didn't look ready to give in.

Suddenly, the atmosphere or rain drowned streets evaporated into thin air and Mariku was somewhere else. He was in the bedroom watching himself and Bakura not but a few hours ago.

The thief seemed more aggressive from this angle. He saw the tears forming in his own eyes as Bakura kissed and touched him. The thief glanced back at him and smirked. This atmosphere too evaporated and it seemed that he was back in the Living room.

(Flash Back Ends)

So many things were forcing their way through Mariku's unstable mind. He felt afraid, angry, and confused.

Bakura glanced around the corner into the Living Room and saw Mariku crouched down against the wall. He noticed that Mariku seemed to be acting strangely and he was sweating profusely.

"What the hell is your problem? You just kinda dashed out of the room."

Mariku did not reply. He reached into his pocket and pulled out Bakura's knife, the one he had grabbed on his way downstairs. He fingered it and stared at it unsure of its use in his confused state.

"Do you need to talk? I'll actually listen this time." Bakura offered and stepped into the room.

"You won't be around to listen…"

"And why won't I be around?"

Ha ha ha! I'm going to be a real jerk and just drop off here. Sorry it took so long to write this. I'll probably have to rewrite it if there is any confusion whatsoever. I have had major writer's block for the past….two or three days, yeah, something like that. Please review! Lata!


	20. Chapter 23

Hello happy people! I am happy today and I don't know why. It's just so strange, but oh well, I am strange. Anyways, thanks for being patient with me for the last chapter. Writer's block is a real killer. I couldn't think of how to make the flashback work into the story and I felt like breaking something, thankfully I didn't and I got the chapter posted. See ya at the bottom!

Bakura had begun to knelt down before Mariku when the other struck at him with the pocket knife, which he promptly dodged by leaping away from him a few feet. Mariku flew towards him at a quick pace and struck again, this putting a good sized gash in his shoulder.

Blood flowed from his shoulder and began a puddle on the floor. "What the hell was that for?" Mariku responded by striking at him several more times, but missed each time, but on where he merely cut Bakura on the cheek.

Bakura winced and collapsed to one knee and felt himself getting weaker with each movement and with every minute that the blood spilled from his wound.

"Cut the shit and tell me what's gotten into your fucking head!" Bakura yelled in a violent tone.

"You are a bad man, Bakura. I know what you've been trying to do….you tried to grape me…"

"Don't you mean rape?" Bakura corrected.

Mariku's face flared red as he realized that Bakura was correct. "Shut up! I saw you! You were being mean and everything!"

Bakura was utterly confused and still didn't understand what had gotten into Mariku's head that would make him think he wanted to hurt him in any way. "That's ridiculous, you idiot. I wouldn't dare harm you in such a way."

Suddenly, Mariku dropped the knife and collapsed beside it with both hands again brought to his head. He moaned as he was again bombed by similar memories, all of them mixed up and confusing him all the more.

Bakura felt no pity for the other and stumbled out of the room past him, then heading upstairs to the bathroom to take care of his wound.

Mariku couldn't take it and ran out of the house and into the snow, not bothering to stop and just kept running. He wanted to get away from the memories and he didn't know how. He saw blood and darkness; heard angry and profane words being exchanged; then he heard horrid and painful screams coming from a very dark place.

Bakura had taken off his shirt and began to flush it out with water. The blood did begin to slow, but it wasn't clotting like he needed it to. It was taking a lot of time and energy, which he had little of either.

Suddenly, his vision blurred and he felt himself losing control. He collapsed to the tile in a pool of his own blood and was fully unconscious.

Mariku turned down the street and into an alley way. He collapsed out of fatigue against the spray paint stained brick wall. His breathing was heavy and unsteady and his face was red with tears and his skin had been burnt by the strong, frigid wind that had raced against him.

He sobbed loudly and the sound carried further into the darkness of the alley. The sound of crashing metal emited from the darkness and two shadowed figures emerged from it.

Two tall male figures approached him. They wore ratted old clothes and beanies on their head. In their hands were spray cans that weren't yet emptied entirely. One man had chesnut colored bangs and red streaks in his long hair held back in a pony tail and the other had black hair streaked with blue and a lot of facial piercings.

"Look what we got here." The chesnut-hair's deep voice boomed. The other nodded and knelt down in front of Mariku. He lifted his chin with a gloved finger and looked him over as if he were something being sold in a market place.

"He's a cute little thing ain't he?" The other's dull voice whispered. He smirked at Mariku and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt; bringing him to his feet. "Whadya say we have some fun with him?"

The larger chestnut-haired male nodded and too smirked. The shorter one, still holding to Mariku's shirt, dragged him behind as Mariku was sucked into the darkness with them.

The alley became dead silent and there was no one in sight. Suddenly, a loud pained shriek shot out of the darkness and echoed though the streets.

Ryou and Malik were asleep on the couches in the living room of Mariku's home; Ryou on the couch opposite Malik. The sandy-blonde hikari stirred and woke from his long slumber. The television was still on and the living room was a mess. Malik first turned off the active television and set the remote aside on the sidetable.

He ran his fingers through his unruly hair and stretched, popping a few joints and feeling relieved and a little less stiff. He looked at the time and went up the many flights of stairs to Mariku's room. He peered in and saw that it was still empty and his yami had still not returned home.

Malik returned to the first floor and grabbed his coat from the coat rack by the door. He returned to the living room and sat down next to Ryou on the couch. He leaned over Ryou and kissed him lightly on the forehead. Ryou stirred from sleep and glanced through half lidded eyes at Malik.

"I'm going to see if Bakura has found Mariku yet. I'll be back soon." He whispered. Ryou nodded and dropped back off into sleep where he had left off. His breathing was soft and he smelled amazingly good.

Malik chuckled lightly and left, locking the front door of the house behind him. He took a brisk walk to Bakura's house. He walked up the stone pathway to the door and knocked twice, receiving no answer. He knocked again, and again he received no answer.

Malik thought it was strange that Bakura had not promptly answered the door as he always had. Malik reached out to the door knob and twisted it and oddly enough the door was unlocked. Bakura was never one to take such chances and his door was usually bolted tightly.

The suspicious male walked into the house and searched the Living area first, finding nothing out of place except for the blood-stains on the cream carpet. Malik had a bad feeling about this and picked up his pace. He ran up the stairs and as he went he saw droplets of blood leading up them, down the hallway, and to the bathroom, which Malik did follow.

The bathroom door crept open and the hikari poked his head into the room. His eyes drew wide as he saw Bakura fallen on the ground in a pool of his own blood. "Bakura!"

Malik slipped into the bathroom and knelt down beside him, checking his pulse to see if he was alive. "Barely," he whispered sounding slightly panicked. Bakura had a white complexion and his body was cold and stained with his blood. His pallid tendrils had soaked up a small amount of the blood and had turned it a scarlet hue. He seemed almost dead, but thankfully he wasn't..not yet at least.

Malik ran from the room like a bat out of hell in search of the phone which was on Bakura's dresser in his bedroom. He called Ryou in a panic instead of calling for an ambulance.

The sleep-heavy hikari picked himself up off of the couch and answered the phone in the first floor cooridor. "Hello, Ishtar residence," he answered groggily.

"Bakura! Its Bakura!" Malik yelled from the other end.

"What's wrong?"

"Bakura is bleeding all over the place and I don't know what happened!"

"What?" Ryou said sounding more alert and panicked.

"You might want to get your butt over here now! Uh…hello?"

Ryou had dropped the phone and already sped out of the house. Malik threw the phone aside and returned to Bakura. Running as quickly as he could, Ryou arrived at the house in a matter of minutes and was out of breath. Malik heard the door fly open downstairs and ran to the top of the tall flight of stairs. He saw Ryou bent over with his hands on his knees and he was having trouble recalling his breath.

Malik ran down to him and carried him up the stairs while he recovered himself. Ryou jumped off of his back once at the top of the stairs and bolted for the bathroom with Malik right behind him. Ryou dove to the floor beside him and also checked for a pulse which was faint and growing more faint with each critical moment that passed.

Malik had finally gotten over his panic and was already searching the cabinets for medical supplies. He had taken care of Mariku plenty of times and in situations like this Mariku would always survive and recover without any problems. There was one problem though; Mariku had never bled all over the place like Bakura was now.

Ryou's eyes darted up and down Bakura's form. His eyes built up with tears and he didn't know what to do with himself. "Put your hands on his arm and put some pressure on his wound!" Malik said as he was now tossing things carelessly from the medicine cabinet above the sink. Ryou did as he was told and continued to panic, but less than before. He too was gaining control of himself.

"Do you have a needle and some wire by any chance?" Malik inquired of Ryou.

"Downstairs…under the sink…"

Malik didn't hesitate to bolt from the room and down the steep stairway, tripping over himself and falling to the bottom. He shook it off and ran for the kitchen. He found a coil of thin wire and a small package of thick needles under the sink just as Ryou had said. He also spotted a pair of scissors which he too pocketed. He quickly returned to the bathroom, there was no time to waste.

Ryou glanced back at him a moment. "Are you all right? I heard a crashing noise downstairs." Malik nodded and told Ryou he had just tripped. He did his best to sanatize both the wire and the needle before proceeding to thread the needle with the silver string. He put the needle point between his teeth and knelt down beside Bakura, turning him off of his front and onto his back so that the wound was then accessable.

Just as Malik was about to begin sewing up the wound the best he could, Ryou saw the needle and his eyes shot wide. "What are you doing with that?"

"Relax, I have done this for Mariku thousands of times."

"How the hell can I relax when he is bleeding to death?"

Malik looked at Ryou and was quite surprised. Ryou realized that he had cursed for the first time in his life and looked to be surprised himself. Malik chuckled and dove the needle into Bakura's wound. Ryou averted his eyes; it was too disgusting for him to watch.

Bakura whispered his pain with a soft moaning sound. Ryou panicked and tried to stop Malik, but was pushed off by the other who continued to sew up the wound. Ryou was amazed by his sewing skills, and the fact that Malik had not fainted. Ryou would have most likely fainted at the first stitch.

Malik quickly finished and cut the wire with the scissors. "That's all I can do here." He mummbled and sat back on the edge of the bathe, wiping at the small beads of sweat with the rolled up sleeve of his shirt. He stood and washed the blood from his hands and advised Ryou to do the same.

"Then we have to take him to the hospital."

"Let's go then."

The two males called for a taxi to come a.s.a.p. and waited for it as patiently as they could. The drive happily obliged and drove them to the hospital as quickly as he was able.

Once at the hospital, Bakura was admitted right away and taken to the Emergency Room. Ryou and Malik were directed to the Waiting Room for the time being. Ryou sat back in a chair and sighed deeply. He was desperately trying to hold back the tears that wanted to burst from his eyes.

Malik pulled the trembling male into his arms and held him closely. Ryou gripped his jacket and held him tightly. Malik couldn't think of anything he could say to reassure the robber's hikari that his yami would be all right. Ryou didn't expect him to say anything, but he had wished that he would have.

After at least an hour or so, the two hikari's were confronted by a young gentleman in a long white coat and thick glasses with a black frame. He had auburn hair and a friendly smile on his face. Malik stood and shook his hand, Ryou stayed sat in his chair and clutched to Malik's arm when he sat back down.

"You the fella's that came in with the egyptian fella?" The doctor inquired and Malik and Ryou nodded. The doctor sat adjacent to them both and still had that stupid grin on his face. Ryou wanted to rip it off of him and strangle him for even smiling at a time like this. This desire to kill the doctor burned in his light chocolate eyes.

"Fella's, I have to congratulate you both." Ryou looked confused and Malik did as well. The doctor chuckled and grinned again making Ryou want to commit murder even more and this feeling was not his everyday feeling.

"You saved your friends life and I commend you for it. Are either of you doctors?" The excited man inquired. Malik and Ryou both shook their heads in unison. The happy man was surprised and his surprise was obvious. "Well, the stitching on his arm was excellently done; even better than what I can do. That amazes me. I wish more people knew how to do things like that. It would save me the trouble."

"Who closed the wound?" The doctor inquired still looking excited and starving to know more. Malik and Ryou exchanged glances and each pointed at the other.

"It was him," they said in unison.

"No, it was him," Malik quickly followed up.

"Nu-uh! It was-" Malik clasped his hand over Ryou's mouth and repeated that it was Ryou. The doctor's beeper called to him from the belt of his pants. "Oops, I have to go. You can give me a few pointers later, all right?"

The doctor took off down the long white cooridor and disappeared around a corner. Ryou forced Malik's hand off of his face and gave him a displeased looked. "What are you doing? Why did you say it was me?"

"Because I just felt like it." He grinned at Ryou and eased back against the back of his chair. Ryou sighed and dropped his head, his clean white tendrils falling in front of his face. "I am the one that deserves such recognition. I did nothing, but watch and panic."

Malik shook his head and clicked his tongue. "Can't just learn to say thank you and shut up?" Malik said teasing the other. He pecked him on the cheek and tried to hold him against, but the other drew away and again looked at him in a frustrated way which was adorable from Malik's angle.

"I don't feel right about it, Malik!"

"Listen, I don't need recognition for anything. I just feel good for just knowing I might have save his life."

"But Malik-!"

Malik put his finger on Ryou's soft lips and put the other finger to his own lips, "Shh…" He removed his finger and took the other's hands in his own. "I don't care…and you shouldn't either…"

Ryou leaned against his arm and sighed again. "I still won't feel right…" he mummbled. Malik rolled his eyes and pulled Ryou into a long and passionate kiss just to shut him up.

A nurse strolled into the room with Bakura's paperwork and approached them both. She handed off the paperwork to Malik who swiftly looked the papers over. "What's all of this?"

"Those are discharge forms for your pal. He can go as soon as he gets his last transfusion." She replied and popped the gum in her mouth.

"Thank you." Malik said and handed the papers off to malik to look at.

"Oh yeah, you can go see him if you want to." She pointed out the directions to Malik and returned to whatever she had been doing.

Suddenly, the sound of blaring sirens filled the lot outside and two doctors ran past the waiting room. Ryou and Malik watched as a blood-covered figure was quickly wheeled by them and taken down the hallway. Malik looked a little distraught about something. Ryou waved his hand in front of Malik's face. "Are you all right?"

Malik shook it off and nodded, "It's nothing…let's go see Bakura."

Malik walked Ryou back into the busy hallways and they counted the numbered doors until they arrived to Bakura's room. They opened the door that was left slightly ajar and walked into his room.

The palid-haired thief was laying motionless in his hospital bed and was hooked up to a large number of machines that did something important for him. Most of the blood had been cleaned up and he almost looked like new, but Ryou wasn't about to forget how gruesome he looked laying on the bathroom tile in a pool of his own blood.

The palid-haired Hikari was overcome by tears at the sight of his poor Yami laying motionlessly in a hospital bed with tubes and things shooting out of his body in various places.

Behind, in the hallway, a few doctors flew past the door. Malik and Ryou both looked out into the hallway and saw them turn down the next hallway. Malik was curious as to what was going on and decided to follow.

Malik ran to the next hallway and skidded to a hault and he became frozen in shock with his eyes wide and his jaw hanging. "M..Mariku!"

Ryou heard what the other had exclaimed and joined him at the beginning of the new corridor. "What did you say?" He looked around frantically to see where the other's yami was.

Malik bounded off down the hallway with Ryou trailing a ways behind him. He turned into the ER unit. "Malik!" Ryou called from behind. As Ryou turned the corner he saw Malik being dragged out of a room by nurses.

"Sir, you can't just barge in like that!" One nurse told him.

"Stop! Let me go!" Malik screamed and struggled.

One of the doctors stepped out of the room to see what the trouble was, just as Ryou had finally caught up to his fighting lover.

"This guy here is related to the patient in that room. What happened?" Ryou inquired.

"I can't quite say yet. I haven't gotten a thorough look yet. He's in pretty bad shape th-"

"He can't stay here!" Malik screamed, interrupting the doctor.

Ryou placed a hand on Malik's shoulder and clenched him tightly to stop his struggling. "He needs medical attention, Malik."

"He can't stay…he's never been in a place like this. Things could happen!"

"Like what?" Ryou crossed his arms and waited for the ridiculous answer he assumed he was going to get.

Malik hesitated with his answer meaning he either couldn't think of one or there wasn't one at all. "I can't think of an answer to that right now, but I know that he just can't!" Malik hissed.

"We can't just take him in the condition he is in! That's the most moronic thing anyone could ever think! He has to stay here for medical attention!" Ryou said in a risen voice that sounded quite scary, and it wasn't like him at all to raise his voice like this.

Malik was extremely upset about everything and just stormed off. Ryou just stood there, not knowing what to do. "I always screw things up…" He sighed deeply and turned to the doctor, who looked stunned that such a quiet person could be so loud. "Please, do all you can for him right now, and when you have, please contact me. My name is Ryou Bakura. Could you please?"

"Sure thing." The doctor nodded. "Leave a number with one of the secretaries in this unit." The doctor pivoted and walked back into the chaotic room on quick working doctors and nurses.

Ryou left his cellphone number with the nurse as he was instructed and went to look for Malik, but ended up unable to locate him. He instead returned to Bakura's side.

Malik walked out into the courtyard where tons of snow had built up. He began the makings of what was going to be a snowman. He packed on the snow hard, almost punching the snow to pack it down. He was furious and worried all at the same time.

Ryou sat down next to Bakura and his eyes wandered up and down Bakura's slim form. Suddenly, there was a soft knock on the door of Bakura's room. Ryou turned anticipating it to be Malik, but the man that stepped in was only the doctor involved in Mariku's case. "I thought I would find you in here. Could I talk to you please?"

Ryou nodded and walked out of Bakura's room behind the doctor. He made sure he quietly shut the door and stood confronted the more elderly man. "Your friend from the Emergency Unit is stable now and doing well. He has been moved to the Intensive Care Unit." The doctor told with a pleased smile.

Ryou looked quite relieved that Mariku was stable and doing well. "Thank you so much. Is he awake?"

"No, unfortunately he is still unconscious."

"I see. What exactly is wrong with him?" Ryou inquired further.

"Well…there was head trauma and-"

"Head trauma?" Ryou exclaimed and clasped his hands over his open mouth.

"There's more. I believe your friend was most likely raped."

"Raped? Are you sure?"

"All of the signs were present. I am not truly worried about him being raped, however. The head trauma is the most important thing right now and he is being prepped for a Cat Scan."

The doctors beeper screamed at him from his belt which he turned his attention to. "I have to go overlook the procedure. Please excuse me." The more elderly doctor walked away from Ryou and turned down another of the many corridors.

Ryou leaned back against the wall and put one of his hands on his forehead running his fingers back through his hair. "How am going to tell Malik?"

Malik scooped up a large handfull of snow and rounded out a snowball which he used to pelt his poorly built snowman. "This is all my damn fault!"

Ryou slid down the wall to the floor and sat there trying to think of a way to break the news easily to Malik.

Holy crap! Look how much I wrote! Plz review and I hope you didn't hurt yourself reading all of this, sheesh, so much reading.


	21. Chapter 24

I'm super sorry that I wasn't able to post a chapter a few days ago. I was out of town this weekend. I am trying to make up for it with a few more chapters that I can hopefully post in the next few days. Enjoy…sort of!

"He's going to kick my ass for this if he comes out of it alive…" Malik hastily pelted the snowman again and watched the snow splatter across the snow figure.

Ryou was standing outside of the double glass doors only a few feet behind Malik. He watched Malik as he took his rage out on the featureless snow man.

"I'm such an idiot!" Malik yelled, leaping into the air in a spinning motion and sending the head of the snowman flying at Ryou, but barely missing him. Malik was surprised to see Ryou standing. He lost his balance in falling back down to the ground, and ended up squishing the rest of snowman beneath him. "Ryou?"

The other hikari was staring straight at him, apparently unphazed by the decaptitated snowman's head coming at him only a moment ago. He padded forward to Malik and hovered over him looking kind of gloomy.

"What are you doing out here in the snow?" Malik inquired as he pushed himself up out of the snow, and began patting off the snow sticking to his clothing.

"Sorry to bother you…but I found out what happened to Mariku…"

"All right, what happened then?" Malik almost hissed.

"He has gashes and bruises all over his body."

"I knew it," Malik barely whispered as he collapsed back onto the remainders of his snowman. Ryou sighed and knelt down beside him in the snow. "And…" Ryou paused.

"Just say it…"

"He was raped…" Ryou said, then looking at the ground. Malik collapsed onto his lap and sobbed loudly. Ryou wrapped his arms tightly around Malik, and held him feeling his own tears wanting to break out. "There's more, Malik…."

"Great…its worse…"

"He has major head trauma. They think he was hit with something to knock him when he was supposedly raped. I...I am sorry…" Sorry was the only words he come up with at the moment, but it wasn't going to make everything all right just like that.

Malik looked up from Ryou's lap and looked like he was hungry for blood. "This is all your fault…" He whispered. "What did you say?" Ryou looked down at Malik almost confused. Suddenly, Malik tore from Ryou's lap and bolted into the hospital, down the white corridor towards Bakura's room. Ryou scrambled to his feet and ran after him.

When he ran into Bakura's hospital room, he saw Malik standing beside the bed and holding a pillow high over Bakura's head.

"Malik!"

The very pissed off hikari glanced over at the other who's alabster skin was stained with tears and his face was twisted into that of anger mixed with sadness. He approached Malik slowly, coming face-to-face with him. He wiped at Malik's tears with his soft and gentle hand.

Malik broke down further, dropping the pillow and clinging to Ryou who he cried on more. Ryou didn't hesitate to hold tightly to Malik and let him continue to cry as he comforted him.

"I can't do this anymore…" Malik stammered through his tears.

"Shh," Ryou calmed, "Don't say that…"

"I don't want to be here…"

"Where do you want to be then?" Ryou inquired in his soft and comforting tone that Bakura knew so well. Ryou was always there to comfort him when he was feeling his worst, even when Bakura was beating him. He took it just so Bakura could feel better.

"Anywhere…but not here…" Ryou removed Malik carefully from his waist and took tight hold of his hand. "Then we shall go somewhere else…" The palid-haired hikari strolled out of the room with the other in tow. Just as they were leaving the room, a loud crashing noise was heard down the noise. The lights above flickered wildly and the windows shattered. Malik blocked Ryou from the shards of broken glass flying at them.

Malik looked around and it seemed that there was no more glass breaking, and the lights were still flickering madly. He raced down the hallway and followed the sounds of screaming and struggling. He could sense something was wrong and it had something to do with his yami.

He tripped a fell, but regained his footing and scrambled down a new hallway as the sounds were becoming more loud. Just as Malik was coming down the hallway, a large piece of machinery was hurled out of the room and its wires were sparking with life and energy. Malik skidded to a sudden stop and fell down onto the hard tile. He stared wide-eyed at the machinery that could have crushed him. "Mariku?" The nurses in the room were struggling to restrain his violent movements seeing as he was injured to some extent.

The same doctor Ryou had spoken to earlier crawled out of the room looking quite traumatized by what was happening. He took cover near the wall and tried to take a few deep breaths. He glanced over and caught sight of Malik sitting in front of the destroyed hunk of metal. "Hey you! You may want to back off! You could get hurt!" The injured doctor yelled to the stunned Malik.

Ryou caught up to Malik and helped him up off of the floor. "Are you all right, Malik!" The frantic male inquired as he looked him over. "I'm fine." Malik looked back at the doctor and knelt down beside him.

The white-coated figure had blood-stains all over his once white jacket and it was torn in various places. The man took off his glasses and looked them over. One of the lenses was blown out and the other scratched several times to the point that he could barely see through it.

"What's going on here?" Malik yelled at the doctor. "You're friend is awake, and he is destroying everything…somehow…" The doctor said still unsure of how all of this was happening. Malik gave Ryou an "I told you so" look, which he ignored.

Just then, Mariku came storming out of the room with all sorts of broken wires hanging from his body, some dripping with liquid. "Malik!" He yelled looking furious with his hikari. " What the hell am I doing here?"

Malik looked at him curiously. "You know who I am?" Mariku glared at him sort of wide-eyed and his jaw dropped just the slightest. His fist clenched tightly at his sides and his arms straightened out stiffly. "What the-? Of course I know who the hell you are, you lazy ass hole!" He blew up in Malik's face.

Both Ryou and Malik exchanged shocked looks and returned their wide eyes to Mariku. "I would like to leave, now!" Mariku ordered.

The doctor rose to his feet and leaned against the wall for support. "You can't leave! You're still injured and it is my job to make sure you get well!" He shouted.

"I'll do whatever the hell I want…" Mariku growled at the doctor. As soon as he turned his back, the doctor grabbed a needle and injected something into Mariku's arm which knocked him out just as he was going to return the favor to the doctor. Mariku collapsed in a heap on the floor and was out cold.

"Good god. I had better get a big bonus for this…" The exhausted doctor gave orders for Mariku to be removed from the hallway and taken to an available room with restraints used, of course. He dragged his aching body to his office to get cleaned up.

Two of the muscle bound male nurses dragged Mariku's limp body to an unoccupied room just as they were ordered and he was put into the new bed with leather restraints on his wrists and ankles.

Malik rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "Well, he's back…"

"I noticed." Ryou replied.

Malik and Ryou started back down the ravaged hallway holding eachothers hands. "Ryou, I think you should go back to sit with Bakura…I'll be here with Mariku.."

"Are you sure?"

"I should be fine. He is knocked out after all and he can't do much to me like that." Malik said jokingly. Ryou giggled a little and went on his way. Malik walked into the room where Mariku had been taken and took a seat next to his bed. "I'm glad you're back." He whispered as he silently sat and stared.

It wasn't long after the struggle he had made, that Mariku broke out of his unconscious state and found himself strapped to the bed with Malik sitting quietly nearby with a magazine in hand. "I'm glad to see that you are awake, Mariku…" He commented without looking away from his magazine.

"It feels like the sphyx collapsed on my head." Mariku tried to bring his hand to his head and recalled the restraints which he had quickly forgotten. "What the hell am I still doing in this place? I told you that I wanted to leave." He hissed at Malik.

"You are still injured…being here a while longer won't kill you. Once you are well, we can all leave."

"All? What the fuck do you mean by that?"

Malik closed the magazine and set it aside on the small table near Mariku's bed. "Ryou and Bakura are here as well." Mariku attempted sitting up but the restraints simple would not allow it. The tricky egyptian's hand became translucent and he slipped it up through the restraints, then he unfastened all of the other restraints.

"Why are they here?" He looked sternly at his hikari and sat up in the bed.

"It's a long story that should be saved for later…"

Mariku looked at his hikari queerly and laid back down, heaving a sigh and looking up at the ceiling. Malik stood from his chair and walked towards the door. He informed Mariku of where he was going before he left.

Malik quietly slipped into Bakura's room and saw asleep with his head laying nicely on Bakura's lap. He padded over to Ryou and tapped on his shoulder lightly. "Ryou…" He whispered. The young hikari stirred just a little bit, but did not wake. Malik repeated his actions and leaned down next to him. "Ryou." He whispered again. The others eyes slowly opened and peered around. Malik smiled warmly at him as he sat up.

"What's wrong, Malik?" He rubbed his tired eyes and stretched. "Nothing…" He pulled a chair over from the corner and took a seat next to Ryou. "I just wanted to say thanks."

"For what?" Ryou whispered.

"For sticking by me." Malik lightly blushed and glanced away.

"Its not a problem, Malik."

"I know, but I appreciate it…" He leaned over to Ryou and softly kissed him on his warm lips. Ryou had no objections and stayed it. Malik snickered and pulled out of the kiss slowly. "What's so funny?" Ryou said sounding offended. "It's been a while since I've been this horny." He admitted and continued to snicker. Ryou looked away and began to blush.

Malik advanced on him for another kiss with more passion backing it up this time. Ryou was somewhat surprised, but moaned out softly. Malik again pulled back, realizing that he was still in Bakura's room; Ryou realized the same. "I'm sorry…I know better than that." Malik appologized.

"Its not a problem," Ryou assured. Malik looked at Bakura and then back at Ryou. "Come with me." Malik stood and held out his hand to Ryou. The pallid-haired hikari glanced back at Bakura with unsure eyes and then looked back at Malik, putting his hand in the other's extended one.

Malik led him down to the quietest and darkest room he could find and locked the door behind them. Gently, he backed Ryou up against the edge of the bed and eased him down on the clean white sheets.

Malik's lips were magnatized to Ryou's jaw. He hadn't wasted any time in climbing onto the other and was already working on the button and zipper of his black jeans. Ryou was too busy moaning to notice that Malik was having some difficulty undoing his jeans.

Malik smirked and Ryou's eyes went wide as he felt a cold hand slip under the fabric of his jeans. Ryou giggled uncontrolably, then his eyes began to tear up, and then he felt rather angry for some strange reason. All of these emotions flowed through him, and he didn't even realize it was happening. He moaned lightly in Malik's ear which gave the other the greatest pleasure.

"Can't you keep your pants on for give god damn minutes?" A very familiar voice sounded in the darkness from behind Malik and Ryou. "Go away, Mariku. We're busy." Ryou was being even more of a tomatoe, and Malik now annoyed that his Yami had broken in on his private time with his own lover.

"Whatever…" Mariku said with lack of interest in what Malik had to say at the moment. "Where is Bakura?"

"A few…a few rooms down from this one…." Ryou tried to spill as Malik continued to touch him in the most delicate of places. He continued to kiss Ryou's neck without caring that Mariku was still standing there and watching with disgust. The darker of the two blonde's rolled his eyes and sped out of the room before the sight of the two lovers could make him sick.

The hallway was very cold since Mariku had broken the windows and the staff was still trying to block the chilled air from entering the hospital. The yami passed by several open and closed doors before he finally came to Bakura's assigned room. He peeked around the corner and into the room and saw that Bakura looked to be asleep as far as he knew.

He padded into the room and closed the door quietly behind him, then proceeding to approach the bed with his eyes focused on the other egyptian. He couldn't help, but think that Bakura was even the hottest thing on the planet and in this condition.

Bakura moaned out slightly, which was sure sign that he was definitely alive and in pain. Mariku grabbed for a small remote with a single button which he pressed to release the given dose of mophin into the i.v. leading to Bakura's arm.

"I knew something was wrong, I could feel it…." Mariku whispered and ran his fingers through Bakura's long white tendrils. The tomb keeper glanced down at Bakura's bandaged arm and noticed that it had bled through some. "Look what you've done…I ordered you to discontinue cutting yourself."

"Actually, it wasn't me…it was you." Bakura whispered and opened his eyes some. Mariku stared at him strangely and sat back in the chair pulled up the side of his bed. Bakura sat up slowly, appearing to be really sore, and leaned back against the pillow on his bed.

"Me?" Mariku questioned Bakura who nodded. Mariku looked at his bandaged arm, "I wouldn't do this to you."

Bakura sighed and dropped his head slightly with a shaking movement added for affect. "You had amnesia…after that branch fell on you. And a while after that accident, well more like a few hours ago, you stabbed me. I don't even get why you did it." Bakura explained to his best.

Mariku smiled at first and then followed it up with hysterical laughter. He was nearly brought to tears because he was laughing so hard. "Yeah right. I think the drugs have made you crazy," Mariku teased and continued to laugh, wiping furiously at his watering eyes.

"I'm not crazy, and you did stab me. Like I said, you had amnesia and I don't expect you to remember that you did do this to me."

"I'm not careless and stupid enough to get amnesia….stop playing around. The joke isn't funny anymore."

"This isn't a joke, Mariku. You were stupid enough to get smacked upside the head by a rock that was hidden under the snow you ass hole." Bakura sneered.

"Okay…I get the joke…just stop." Mariku tried to calm him.

"It's not a fucking joke!"

"Shut up!" Mariku screamed. Bakura glared at him for a moment and began to pull the wires from his arms. "I don't have time to fuck around with you." He climbed out of bed and walked over to the small cabinet where new clothes had been set aside for later when Bakura was meant to leave.

He quickly and carefully dressed so that Mariku wouldn't get any stupid ideas while they were there in the same room with one another. He pulled on his long black trench coat and glanced back at Mariku with the same angry gaze. "If you will excuse me, I'm going to leave this damn hospital."

Mariku looked at him ever so sadly and looked back at the i.v. dripping blood from his transfusion which had not yet been completed. "Are you sure you are all right?" He inquired with concern heavy on his already saddened tone.

"I am just fine." Bakura retorted.

Mariku cast his eyes aside, "Do you want me to come with you…?" He inquired in a smallish tone. "I don't care…" Bakura said aloud but was thinking, "Yes, I do."

"I'll go find something to wear." Mariku left the room and wandered the frigid hallways until he found a table with different colored scrubs neatly folded in several piles. Mariku grabbed the violet colored scrubs, which had caught his fancy, and took them back to Bakura's room to change in the small bathroom there. As he was dressing he felt some sort of sharp pain in the lower half of his body, but ignored it and continued to dress.

Mariku walked out of the small bathroom and looked over to Bakura who was standing quietly by the window and was glancing out over the city. "Bakura?" Mariku spoke up. The tomb robber looked back at him with a very sexy, but stern look about him. "What is it?" Bakura said rather roughly. Mariku wanted to tell Bakura about the sharp pain, but it was gone now and Mariku thought nothing more of it. "Nothing…I'm ready to go."

Bakura walked out of the room and glanced down the now empty hallway before actually leaving his room with Mariku in tow. The tomb keeper felt another sharp pain, but it was less than the other, which he too ignored and ran after Bakura to catch up to him.

Mariku walked at a steady pace just a short of stepping on the back of Bakura's shoes. He had his arms pressed over his stomach and he was a more pale color than usual. Bakura glanced back at him, "What is it?"

"Hm? What?" Mariku replied realizing that he was being spoken to. "You don't look well? What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing is wrong." Mariku replied and dropped his arms from his stomach. "No, there is something wrong and you aren't telling me." Bakura inferred and stopped in his tracks. Feeling unusually kind, Bakura asked Mariku if he needed a hand and extended his limb. "What do I need a hand with? I'm just fine."

Mariku walked by Bakura without watching where he was going and ran into a metal table parked in the hallway. Several small packaged medical tools fell from the table as Mariku scrambled to stay standing.

Bakura rolled his eyes and grabbed him so that he would stop making a mess and stop making noise. "Whoops…" Mariku said quietly and clung to Bakura's chest as he tried to steady his legs which suddenly felt like giving out. "I think I'll just carry you out…"

Just as Bakura had gotten Mariku onto his back, two of the male nurses turned the corner sharply and sighted the two patients wandering the halls. "We have company. Hold on tightly to my jacket." Bakura darted off down the hallway a ways before he leapt out of one of the broken windows and made a mad dash for the streets.

With ease, Bakura was able to get ahead of the nurses, and was finally out of their sight. He set Mariku down on the sidewalk and tried to steady him on his feet. He then pivoted and started walking down the street. Mariku ran up beside him and walked next to him quietly.

Bakura tucked his hands into his pockets and heaved a hard sigh. He then glanced over at the very quiet Mariku who's arms were again wrapped around his stomach. "Where are we going then?"

Mariku felt the same small and mysterious pain as before. He paused for a moment then kept walking with a pinched look on his face. Bakura knew that Mariku would deny his obvious pains and thought that he would wait for Mariku to come to him. "Let's just go to your house…" Mariku answered quietly. Bakura nodded and continued to walk.

I shall leave you there . Hope you somewhat enjoyed this chapter. I'm sorry its so long and that it took so long to write. Please review.


	22. Chapter 25

Thanks for all of the great reviews. I'm glad you guys are still interested in the story. I am too, its fun to write and it was fun to roleplay with my bud. I'll just shut up extra early today and let you read on.

Bakura and Mariku walked up the cracked cement of the walking path. Bakura fished around in his pockets until he found his keys and unlocked the door. The sandy-blonde walked in ahead of him and sighed as he looked around the cold house. He felt better now that he was away from that horrid hospital.

Bakura walked by him and started up the stairs to his bedroom. Mariku couldn't help, but feel that the tomb robber had something on his mind, but the keeper wasn't about to do anything about it. "He just needs time," Mariku shrugged and was about to go the kitchen when he began coughing harder than he ever had.

The keeper covered his mouth and coughed it out, but was shocked to see small spots of blood on his hand. His eyes drew wide and his body began to tremble as he just stared at his hand.

Bakura stripped of his trench coat and shirt, tossing them aside on a chair sitting alone in one of the corner's of the room. He sighed heavily and fell back into the chair. He couldn't get the thought of Mariku thrusting that blade at him out of his head. Mariku had taken on an evil look at that time and Bakura had actually become afraid for his own safetly. He felt so frustrated by all of this.

The egyptian thief wandered back downstairs and saw Mariku standing with his back turned towards the staircase. Bakura continued down the stairs and to the kitchen where he thought he was going to be getting a snack. Instead, Bakura started tearing the kitchen apart with frustration and anger heavy on his features.

Mariku snapped out of his little trance because of all the ruckus Bakura was making. He wiped the spots of blood on the inside of his hospital shirt and turned the corner to see Bakura throwing the last of anything in the kitchen before he collapsed to the floor with his right knee up with his arm resting there. His head was hung low and he was just staring at the floor as he began to settle down a little bit.

The keeper glanced around the destroyed kitchen and picked up one of the cooking pans on the ground. He looked down at Bakura with a very loving gaze and expression present. "Bakura…?" He set the pot aside on the counter and perched himself on the marble top.

The tomb robber's eyes began to water just a little. He had never felt so frustrated about anything. He looked up slight with his bangs hanging gloomily in front of his dark chocolate gaze. He stood from the ground and proceeded to the back door and disappeared into the lightly falling snow.

Mariku glanced out the window at Bakura who was hurling snowballs at the old wooden fence. He sighed and felt that this had something to do with himself. Still, he too went outside and was hit with the sudden chilled breeze that Bakura was obviously ignoring since he was without a shirt or coat.

"Bakura…" Mariku whispered in a very sad tone. Just then, he felt the same sharp pain only now his chest felt tight and it was hard to breathe. He leaned against the house and grabbed his chest with one hand, the other occupying his lower torso.

Mariku began to gasping for breath, but he was as cool as a cucumber and wasn't about to panic over something like this a little bit of blood. Bakura's keen senses picked up on the small sound and he was aware that Mariku was trying to keep it from him.

The frustrated thief turned to see Mariku leant up against the side of house. Bakura's eyes were filled with suspended tears that refused to flood from his chocolate orbs. He approached Mariku very slowly, his shadow stretched out and loomed over the other.

Mariku wiped a spot of blood from the corner of his mouth and stared into Bakura's cold and seeminly lifeless eyes. The pained spirit reached out to the pallid-hair, but his hand was brutally swatted away as if it were an obnoxious fly buzzing towards the other's face.

"Listen, and listen good Mariku. I am going to be blunt." Bakura began in a most frigid tone. "I've thought about everything that has happened since you came into my life…you've destroyed everything without thinking about anyone but yourself. You still continue to ruin everything. I don't know why I continue to put upu with it…I'm so fucking sick of the frustration and stress you give me…but still…" Bakura paused and it was obvious he was holding back his tears.

"You have somehow managed to draw me to you in some odd way…and I don't want it, but it still manages to happen…"

"What the hell are you babbeling on about?" Mariku hissed and was now getting bored with Bakura's constant yammering.

A tear fell from Bakura's eye and he seemed both shocked and sad that Mariku wasn't even listening. He maybe even felt angry…he didn't know what he felt, but it wasn't happiness like it had been before, and it wasn't..it wasn't anything. He felt empty again.

The tomb robber darted into the house slamming the door behind himself and flew up to his room where he locked the door. Mariku, knowing he had little energy, teleported himself into Bakura's room, nearly missing his mark and ending up in the attic or the basement. Bakura was splayed out on his bed and was just letting his suspended tears stream down his pale skin. "Bakura, I want to understand what you were talking about outside."

"You don't give a damn anyway, so might as well piss off and leave me alone." Bakura retorted quite coldly to the other egyptian. Mariku tried to speak up, but Bakura only repeated himself with a more angry tone to his voice. "Fine…I'll go, but I…I love you Bakura…"

Mariku was given no reply so he decided to leave the house. He returned to his own on foot because he was too weak to use anymore of his power which would only kill him faster.

Bakura flipped onto his back and acted as if he truly didn't care about the other. "I could care less that he's injured and will most likely die. At least he will be out of my life and things can be normal again." Bakura wiped as his red and tear-stained eyes and sighed deeply.

Mariku opened the front door and walked inside and upstairs to his bedroom where he laid down carefully on his bed and stared at the ceiling with his already blurring vision. He could feel that blood was welling up inside his human vessel. There was nothing he could do at this point however because he was too weak to heal himself.

"I hate him," Bakura growled and repeated to himself as if to wash away his memories of Mariku all together.

"I love him…and I will gladly die…if it makes him happy…" Mariku whispered. Tears fell from his eyes as he continued to stare and was only thinking of Bakura.

"Why am I so drawn to that bastard?" Bakura growled again and tossed onto his other side.

Mariku eased himself up onto his elbows and had a very determined look in his eyes. "No, I can't die…until he says that he loves me…I just have to hear it…" Mariku rolled off of his bed onto his wobbly legs and made it back out the door and was heading back for Bakura's house.

When he came to the front door, he found that it was locked. However, he was smart enough to carry a credit card around just for such occassions. He stepped into the house and could hear angry sounds emitting from the thief's bedroom. As he was scaling the stairs, he fell on the stair and could go no further. He was so exhausted from what had seemed to be only a five minute walk to the others house. It now felt more like forever.

"Bakura…?" He called in a smallish tone. He repeated himself again but more loudly. From upstairs he heard more shouting and then the tomb robber appeared at the top of the staircase. "What the hell do you want now? I thought I told you piss off!" Bakura shouted at Mariku.

Mariku glanced up at Bakura and saw not even a shred of mercy in his expression which was cold as it had once been. "Bakura…please, talk to me…" Mariku practically begged.

Bakura was in a sadist mood right now and didn't care what Mariku had to say, in fact he didn't want to ever talk to anyone ever again. He pivoted to return to his room. "Bakura!"

The thief gave him the most evil of his looks yet. There was a sort of darkness to his chocolate colored eyes that the other hadn't seen for quite some time. "Spare me, I don't care what you have to say. I don't want to talk. You had that chance and you completely ignored me when I was trying to speak with you. You didn't hear a word I said…"

"It's hard to listen when you can barely breathe and you feel like you are going to collapse right there and never wake again…" Mariku snapped back at him.

"Well, its kind of hard to listen when you want to kill someone," Bakura retorted in a most sarcastic manner. Mariku chuckled and nodded. "Ha ha…you joke as if this is so funny…but its not…." Mariku hissed and backed up his words with a serious expression.

"Actually, I find this far from funny. In fact, there is nothing that I find humerous about this situation."

"Really…I find that hard to believe…" Mariku said in a near whisper and glanced away from Bakura.

"Then you can die thinking that…"

Mariku lowered his head on the step and seemed upset that Bakura would even say such a thing.

"You couldn't just leave me the hell alone could you? For once just let me be?" Bakura said with a stutter in his tone as tears came to him again. Mariku shook his head and coughed a little bit. "No, I can't just leave you alone…it doesn't work like that…" Mariku replied in a horse voice.

Bakura walked a circle at the height of the stairs and looked around as he gathered his words and spoke them, "All you do is piss me off and make me hate you even more than I already do…and you should know that I want you to leave me alone and never bother me again…" Bakura paused and descended down the tall flight where he paused next to Mariku. "But…there is also something that I fell…and it never wants you to leave…" He said in a smaller voice and took a seat next to Mariku on the step.

He held his knees close to his chest and looked off and away from Mariku. He couldn't stand the sight of his pale skin and the light stain of blood on his lower lip. He looked almost dead and it was actually frightening to the tomb robber.

"Mariku, I…" He paused again and couldn't seem to say what he wanted to. He thought a moment and regretably looked back at Mariku who's large faint purple orbs were staring directly at him. "I seem to hate everything about you…but I…I do have feelings for you…" He said extra quietly and looked away again.

Well, I think I have written enough for this messed up chapter, but don't fret. Spring Break will give me plently of time to get a few chapters up, I am hoping. Tell me what you think of this demented chapter.


	23. Chapter 26

You guys are great! I couldn't ask for a better group of people to read this story and I'm glad you guys like it. I know I said the last chapter was demented, but that was just because it was so freaking hard to write. Iwould like to appologize for not having titles for my chapters. Writing the story is hard enough for me already.I'll shut up now. Catch you at the bottom!

Mariku reached out to Bakura again and gently put his hand down on Bakura's own. The tomb raider looked down at Mariku's cold, pale hand; his long silver bangs fell down over his eyes and swayed slowly in front of his face.

"I needed…to hear that…." Mariku said in a mere whisper. Bakura looked up ever so slightly and his eyes met Mariku's dimming purple orbs. "That's all I wanted…that and your cute ass…." Mariku said in an attempt to break the silence with a pathetic joke that Bakura didn't appear to find funny.

The tomb keeper drew his hand away from Bakura's and wrapped his around his stomach which appeared to be where his pain was coming from. "You need medical attention," Bakura stated and stood from the step.

"No, I don't…" Mariku reached up and grabbed the stair railing and attempted to steadied himself on his unreliable legs. "But Mariku, I can't do anything for you and"

"I know, and I don't want you to have to do anything. I am happy now…I don't need anything more…"

"You idiot! You're bleeding to death and you pass it off as mere scratch when it is much bigger and a lot more deadly!" Bakura raged at the other with so much passionate concern behind his eyes. Mariku looked at Bakura quite surprised at his reaction to his wanting to die so nothing else could go wrong between them.

"But…Bakura, I—" Mariku began.

"No excuses! You need medical attention! And don't even ask me to heal you, because my powers aren't nearly strong enough to take care of this fucking mess you have gotten yourself into!"

Mariku was again surprised by Bakura's almost touching words. He smiled thinly at him and leaned against the railing. The raider jumped over the railing of the stairs and fell to the ground landing flawlessly. He grabbed the little, black cordless phone from atop a small table held fast against the wall and out of way.

He began to dial in the number for an ambulance when the phone began to melt in his hands. The heat was too much for the robber and he was forced to throat it to the ground. He glared at Mariku who's hand was held out in his direction and it was apparent that the melting of his phone was his doing. "You're replacing that you know."

"I know, and I will, but I'm not going back to that horrible white place. It refuse to go." Mariku made quite clear to Bakura. The raider recalled hearing something similar to this coming from the once forgetful keeper.

"Don't you fucking pull that again. Now, come on so you don't die in my house. Besides, you can't die yet because we haven't had any real 'fun' yet…" Bakura said in his most sexiest of his dark voices. Mariku could feel himself blushing and Bakura could see it.

He snapped out of his dreamy gaze and shook it off. "I meant it, Bakura. I'm not going back there." Bakura bent himself on a slant and rested his hand on his hip whilst tapping his foot angrily on the hardwood floor. "Well, I won't have you dying on my floor in my house." Bakura repeated with emphasis on the fact that this was his house.

Mariku began his decent down the few steps he had already been up, and was making his way towards the door when he suddenly collapsed out of weakness and was only a few feet from the door. Bakura shook his head and rolled his eyes. "See, I told you. You need medical attention, you stubborn bastard." Bakura said almost playfully, but was meant to sound more serious than it did.

Mariku coughed up more blood than usual which meant that things were worsening for him and that time was running out for him. Bakura picked him up and carried him to the couch, laying him down carefully. "What the hell are you doing, Bakura?" Mariku inquired with confusion and pain heavy on his features.

Bakura rolled up his sleeves and shook his arms to loosen the stiff joints. "Well, if you aren't going to go to a hospital, I'm going to have to give healing you a try. I'm not about to let you die and leave me alone in this godforsaken world of human filth."

He knelt down beside the couch and put his hands on Mariku's stomach, which made Mariku jump as a ticklish sensation coursed through his body. "Stop wiggling and hold still." Bakura griped.

"Bakura, if you kill me, I'll haunt you for the rest of your existance." Mariku threatened, but playfully. He really did have faith in Bakura's abilities, he just liked to joke just to mask his pain and fear.

Bakura scoffed and flicked the tip of Mariku's nose. "Bullshit, like I would kill you this way."

"Hmph…" Mariku closed his eyes and relaxed his pained body. Bakura focused his energies to that one part of Mariku and released them into the other's body. The keeper felt a warm sensation course through his torso; it kind of tingled in a delightful fashion.

Just then, the warm sensation began to weaken and Bakura let out a faint moan that Mariku was at least able to hear. The keeper opened one eye and looked up at his perspiring lover. "Stop Bakura…" He whispered.

"Just do as I told you, and hold still, Mariku." Mariku did so, but watched as Bakura grew ever weaker. The raider began to waver and his vision began to blur, but he did not once think of pulling away from Mariku.

"Damn it! I said stop, Bakura!" Mariku yelled just as Bakura had finished and collapsed and had passed out. The keeper jumped off of the couch and knelt down beside his lover, resting the raider's head on his lap. His face was slightly red and his body was over heated from the strain of his powers being used to their fullest.

"You—You cute idiot…" Mariku brushed silver tendrils from Bakura's face and stroked his warm cheeks as he gazed so very lovingly at him. Feeling stronger than ever, Mariku lifted Bakura from the floor and struggled to get him onto his back. He crept up the steps to Bakura's room. The raider was bigger than Mariku in size which made it harder to carry him.

They finally got into the room, and Mariku, as carefully as he could, eased Bakura off of his back and onto the bed. He resituated the other's limp body on the bed and covered him with his black comforter.

He scurried onto the bed next to Bakura and settled down with the thief's head laying comfortably on his chest. Mariku gazed at his unconscious lover with a caring look in his eyes. "I told you to stop…so that you wouldn't become as weak as you have…but I'm greatful." He touched his lips to Bakura's forehead and sighed. "I love you…" He whispered in Bakura's ear and drifted off into a wonderful sleep.

Not long after Mariku had nodded off into a world of dreams, Bakura shifted quite a bit to get comfortable. Mariku stirred and slowly came to life, seeing that he was still holding Bakura closely, but now the raider was sleeping and snoring which meant he was going to be just fine.

He sat up a little bit further in the bed and leaned back against the head board of the king sized bed. There he sat for quite a while and brooded, forgetting where he was and drifting off in his thoughts which were being organized. One thing he couldn't understand was the large gap in time that seemed strange to him.

The thief moaned softly and stirred again. He opened his eyes slowly and allowed his eyes to wander around the room to figure out where he was. His eyes finally came to rest upon the keeper who was staring at him and smiling very warmly. "Are you all right, Bakura?"

The tomb robber sat up slowly because he was still too weak to actually move about as he pleased. "I am fine…" His limbs trembled as they tried to hold the robber in a more upright position. "Right…" Mariku said sarcastically and eased Bakura's body back down and placed his head on his lap. "No, I'm fine…" Bakura objected and attempted to sit up again.

Mariku embraced Bakura's arm carefully. "Bakura…" The raider looked back at him with a brow cocked high on his forehead. "What?"

"I have been thinking…about everything you said," Mariku began. Bakura leaned back on Mariku's lap because he was too weak and too tired to try and get out of talking with his lover. "Like what?" He inquired groggily.

"Well, about how you wanted to be left alone, how you said I had amnesia, how you have feelings for…me…" Mariku paused and tried to think of everything else he had thought about earlier. Bakura glanced up at the unsure keeper who was staring off at the wall in the other direction.

"Sounds like you've had a lot to think about, but when did you actually get the time to think?" Bakura inquired further. "I was thinking while you were sleeping."

"Bakura…do you really want me to go away? Am I really making you that miserable? Do you hate me?" Mariku inquired all at the same time. Bakura tried to think of an answer to each question. At the moment, however, he could only think of the easiest answer for the same question that Mariku had asked him when he had amnesia.

"I don't hate you, and…I don't want you to go away. I am…I am just not used to all of these things that have happened to me. It makes it difficult to express such feelings that I have never had before." Bakura explained to his distraught egyptian boyfriend.

"Its all new to me as well…" Mariku commented in a small tone. "Tell me, what was I like with amnesia?"

Bakura chuckled and closed his eyes. "You acted like a damn kid, and you sure bugged the crap out of me. You know, I'm not good with kids. In fact, I don't really like them at all."

Mariku chuckled as well and seemed almost embarrassed now to hear about himself acting as a child would. "God, I was a little monster when I was a kid," he joked at first. His laughter calmed and he looked back at Bakura. "I'm sorry…"

"It's over, and there is no need to appologize. You couldn't do anything about it. You had amnesia." Bakura said in a very understanding way. He put his arms behind his head and relaxed on Mariku's lap, heaving a very weary sigh.

Mariku leaned over Bakura and brought his lips to the other's. Bakura lightly kissed him back with a slim and sexy smile on his face. Mariku could feel tears welling up in him and pulled back from Bakura. He replaced his lap with a pillow for the pallid-hair to lay his head on and disappeared downstairs.

He sat back on the couch and held a pillow over his already tear-stained face and sobbed quietly into the pillow. Bakura was confused by Mariku's sudden expulsion from his bedroom. He stood up out of bed not only to go find out what was wrong with Mariku, but to also prove that he was just fine and able to get around.

He descended the stairs very carefully so as to not go tumbling down the stairs and need to take another trip to the dreaded hospital. He glanced into the living room around the corner of its entrance and spotted Mariku turned about with his face shoved into a pillow. "Mariku, are you okay?"

He heard Mariku gasp as he spontaneously pulled his face out of the pillow. The keeper tried to wipe away his visible tears, then sniffled in an adorable way. "Yeah, I'm just great…" Mariku tried to calm himself to stop the flow of tears.

Bakura entered the room fully and leaned back against the wall for some much needed support. "Are you really sure you are okay?" Bakura basically repeated.

"You should be laying down…" Mariku commented without answering the other's question.

"I'm just fine, Mariku."

"Stop trying to put up a strong front." Mariku stared at Bakura with red eyes and a fake, thin smile gracing his sad features. Bakura's first mistake was stepping away from the wall without thinking of the consiquences of his actions. "Okay, don't say that something isn't wrong, because I can tell by—" Bakura collapsed to the ground before he could finish his sentence. "Damn it…" He cursed.

Mariku leapt from the couch to aid him, but was held off by the robber. "I can get up…" He commented and used the end of the couch to pull himself to his feet.

"Be careful, Bakura."

"I am being careful." Bakura hissed and brushed himself off. Mariku crossed his arms and looked at Bakura slyly. "Then why were you on the ground?"

"Because I lost my balance." Bakura lied and flipped his hair out of his face.

"You are the most agile man I know and you can't manage to stay standing." Mariku knew that Bakura was still weak and he also knew that Bakura was most likely not going to admit to his latest weakness, which enabled Mariku to play around with him.

Thinking that Bakura was going to revert back his question of why Mariku had been crying, the sandy-blonde yami walked past Bakura and walked to the kitchen to get something to drink since he was now officially dehydrated.

He searched several cupboards for a glass and quickly became frustrated because he was unable to do so. Bakura smoothly stepped into the room and pulled a blue glass from the cupboard nearest the entrance of the kitchen. He handed it to Mariku and leaned back against the counter. "Thanks," Mariku said quickly and turned away to get a drink.

Bakura's silence was unnerving the keeper. He was having trouble getting the glass to hold still under the running tap water. Once the glass was at least half full and dripping wet, Mariku turned off the water and zoomed past Bakura to the living room. He sat down and turned on the television. He was going to do everything and anything to avoid an embarrassing conversation with Bakura.

The curious tomb robber stepped back into the living room and stood off to the side of the couch. "Why were you crying, Mariku?"

"Look, there's a great program about fish," Mariku interrupted and pretended that he didn't even hear Bakura.

"That was a pathetic attempt to avoid my question." Bakura sat down very close to Mariku on the couch and scooted a little bit closer to him. The sandy-blonde started nervously and rapidly flipping from channel to channel. "Just tell me," Bakura continued to press.

The flipping of the channels became annoying to the raider who snatched the remote control away from Mariku and turned off the television. He slipped the remote into his back pocket where Mariku couldn't get to it and now he had to give Bakura an answer.

Mariku slouched down on the couch and let his hair fall over his face. Bakura reached over his hand and rested it on Mariku's. "Just tell me already."

"Do you really want me crying like a girl?" Mariku tried to joke even though the tears were again forming in his violet orbs. Bakura clenched Mariku's hand more tightly, "I don't care if cry, I just want you tell me what's wrong."

Haha! I leave you all there, but it won't take long for me to get to another chapter because I have plenty of time thanks to Spring Break which just barely began for me! Peace, love, and padded walls!


	24. Chapter 27

Well, hello there! Today is a great day! I've sucked down five energy drinks and I'm bouncing off the walls, more like ready to type up the next few chapters. Anyhoo, I'll be quiet and let you read on. Catch you at the bottom!

Mariku came into tears and fell forward onto Bakura's strong chest. He clung tightly to his shirt and cried into the black material. The robber's look was firm, but his eyes seemed to show a more caring side of him.

"I—I really love you…and…and I thought when you said…" Mariku sobbed as he tried to speak. "Keep talking," Bakura pressed. "You said that..you hated me…and I piss you off..and make you hate me even more…and you want to be left alone…" Mariku sobbed a little harder. Bakura reached one arm around Mariku and rubbed his back in small circles. He tried to quiet his sobbing and pressed for him to continue speaking.

"I love you…and I don't want to piss you off…and I don't want you to hate my guts….and I just want to be with you…" Mariku continued to sob into Bakura's tight black shirt. The tears and the emotions made Mariku feel and look weak, but he couldn't help but think that Bakura had almost left him when he was on the verge of dying; and he didn't want to think of dying without Bakura by his side.

Feeling sorry for the other at this point, Bakura embraced him in his strong arms and held him close to his warm body. "I never meant any of that bullshit I said. I said those things out of confusion about everything. I thought that being alone would be best, but now I'm not sure that it is." The robber leaned his head down on Mariku's and sighed.

"I'm sorry…that I screwed your life up and confused you," Mariku continued to appologize. He sniffled and wiped at his watering eyes. Bakura chuckled and lifted Mariku's eyes to meet his eyes, and he looked deeply within them. His smile was very warm and sweet. "Don't appologize for anything. I think that your coming into my life was a way to get me to understand."

"Understand what?" Mariku said in a baffled manner.

"I needed to understand what is right for myself…and also for you." Bakura finished his thought and made it more clear to the other. Mariku leaned forward on Bakura's chest again. "God, I feel like such a whiny little bitch." Mariku wiped at his reddened eyes and sniffled as he took a deep breath.

Bakura lifted Mariku's eyes back to his and chuckled. "Yeah, you are, but you are _my _whiny little bitch," Bakura said in an endearing way and brought Mariku's lips to his own for a short moment. The kiss was very soft and warm. Mariku allowed a few more tears to stream his features and moaned ever so lightly.

Mariku backed away with a small grin attached to him, and he was blushing as well. "Thank you, Bakura…" The thief nodded and smiled his sexiest of grins. Mariku took his lips again without thinking about it. The kiss this time was more intense and more passionate; and Mariku had even managed to slip a little tongue into the mix. The keeper's hands wandered underneath Bakura's shirt and gently explored his very warm skin.

Bakura chuckled his throat which mixed with a very satisfied moan. Mariku pulled his hands from under the black cloth and worked on its button-down front, undoing each button slowly to tease the other.

The sandy-blonde eased Bakura back on the couch and crawled over his legs so as to keep his mouth connected to Bakura's. The robber leaned back against the pillow already sitting there and continued to make out with his lover. Mariku managed the last button and practically tore the shirt off of his back and tossed it aside on the ground.

Mariku pulled out of Bakura's mouth and looked down at him quite concerned. "I'm sorry. It slipped my mind that you were so weak and—" Bakura pulled Mariku back down before he could even finish his sentence. Mariku fiddled with the button and zipper on the robber's black jeans. Becoming frustrated with the unwilling jeans, he pulled away and looked down as he nervously fidgeted with them.

The robber put his arms behind his head and watched as Mariku did so. The keeper was having a hard time keeping his mind on undoing the jeans with Bakura just laying there with his flawless torso exposed and looking delicious.

He finally was able to undo the interferring article of clothing and…absolute bliss. (hehe) A loud gasping noise mixed with a moaning noise flooded throughout the hallways of the decently sized house.

Malik and Ryou had returned to Mariku's luxurious mansion after their little fling at the hospital which had been discontinued right after Mariku had caught them in the beginning of the act. Ryou had been too embarrassed to continue. Therefore, they now sat in the living area across from eachother on the separate leather couches.

Malik was tired of the awkward silence and stood from the couch. "Would you like something to eat? I know its been a few hours since the hospital."

"Oh, you don't need to do anything for me, I am all right." Ryou assured.

"You aren't still stuck on what we did in the Intensive Care Unit are you?" Malik inquired referring to their little fling. Ryou shook his head and leaned back into the leather. Malik shrugged and turned. He paused and glanced back. "Are you absolutely sure you aren't hungry?" He pressed the same question again.

"I am absolutely sure. I am just fine, thank you." Ryou smiled. Malik had an idea and since Mariku wasn't around he was sure that carrying out his idea would be safe. He casually walked into the kitchen and pulled something from the fridge. He set a large bottle of wine down on the counter and searched the drawer below for something to remove the cork.

It felt almost bad for opening the bottle because it was Mariku's and not his, but the bottle had just sat around unused for quite a while and Mariku could always go get another bottle if he wanted it. He grabbed a small metal device and popped the cork on the bottle, which went flying and bounced off of the walls and finally smashed into a glass vase that shattered and made quite a bit of noise.

"Oops…" Malik said and looked down at the shattered mess of glass that had fallen to the floor. Ryou quickly walked into the kitchen looking quite a bit worried. "Is everything all right? What happened?" He questioned as he looked his lover up and down for any injury.

Malik reached up in the cupboard and pulled down two thin wine glasses and poured the bubbling liquid into one for Ryou and then himself. He handed the glass off to Ryou. "Everything's fine."

Ryou looked at the glass shyly and looked up at Malik with a little red tinge to his cheeks. "Thank you."

"You are quite welcome." Malik brushed the broken glass under the counter with his foot and continued to grin at Ryou who thought his lover was a very strange character. He directed Ryou back to the living room where they both took a seat on the lovely leather furniture. They sat there silently and sipped politely at their drinks.

"This is really good, Malik," Ryou commented and sipped at his drink again.

"Yeah, I've been saving it for some time." Malik returned. Ryou looked at himself in the pitch-black big screen on the television. He looked a mess; his hair was frizzy, his skin looked a little bit dirty in a few places, and his clothing was wrinkled. He couldn't stand the sight of his reflection. He set his glass aside on the end table and turned to Malik. "Do you think that it would be a problem if I showered?"

Malik pointed out the one down the first floor cooridor. Ryou gave it no second thought and was gone at the drop of a hat. He walked into the bathroom and turned on the lights; there were several and they were very bright. He closed the door and took off his jacket first, carefully hanging it on the robe hook fastened to the wall.

He looked in the mirror and couldn't bare the sight of himself, and quickly turned away. He lifted his tight black shirt over his head and folded it neatly, placing it on the counter top near the bathroom sink. He did so with his pants, boxers, and tennis shoes.

The male clambered into the shower and closed the curtain. He turned the knobs on the faucet and crept into the warm water that protruded from the shower head. The heavenly water ran many courses down his perfect figure. He moaned his happiness and wavered from side to side as if he were dancing at a sluggish pace. He ran his hands over his body to wash away his impurities.

The more lively of the two hikaris had gotten the idea that he could follow the other into the shower and was stripping down outside the bathroom door. Once completely stripped down, he crept into the bathroom and eased the door shut hoping that Ryou had not heard. He tiptoed to the shower and slipped in behind Ryou who was facing the shower head and washing his chest.

Malik closed the curtain slowly and put his arms around Ryou's waist and leaned his head down between the other's shoulder blades. The surprised hikari jumped a little and dropped the soap into the base of the shower. "You smell good…" Malik said in a deep voice that Ryou found to be quite sexy.

The sandy-blonde hikari stroked Ryou's stomach and moved his playful hands to the other's sides. He pushed Ryou's hair off to the side and over his shoulder, then his lips graced the back of Ryou's now vulnerable neck. The pallid-hair hikari breathed in and whimpered. Malik liked that sound and continued. He then proceeded to reach down further in front of Ryou, who suddenly gasped out in surprise.

Malik smirked and leaned his chin on Ryou's shoulder. "Do you like this?" He whispered in the other's ear. He leaned his body harder against Ryou's body and the other male again gasped out and nodded furiously as he tried to breathe.

Malik ran his tongue up Ryou's wet back and made a satisfied noise. Ryou's entire body quivered at the contact and made sort of a surprised squeak noise. Just then, Malik's stomach roared with hunger. The sandy-blonde chuckled along with Ryou. "I know that you are hungry, but you can't eat me," Ryou said teasingly.

"I'll go make lunch then." Malik captured Ryou's mouth once more and then climbed out of the shower, grabbing a towel on his way out of the bathroom. He walked down the nicely decorated hallway and turned into the kitchen. He grabbed down several pans and began his attempt to make something edible via the stove, his absolute enemy. In his attempt he burnt himself several times and following that he cursed several times.

The squeaky clean Ryou walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and his dirty clothing piled up in his arms. He set his things down on the coffee table and stretched now that he was clean and felt so. Just then, he heard cursing emitting from the kitchen where Malik was and dashed to see what was wrong.

In the kitchen, Malik had again burnt himself, this time on the pan of burnt food he was disposing of in the sink. Ryou ran into the kitchen and skidded to a hault at the doorway. "Is everything all—right?" He saw Malik by the sink with his hand held under the cold running tap. He stepped over next to him and looked down at his hand. "Are you all right?" He said with concern filling his sweet voice.

"Yeah, this happens all of the time. I'm not much of a cook, I just burn everything." He chuckled to himself and looked at Ryou with a large smile on his features. "The only thing I can really make is cereal." He said jokingly. Ryou joined him in laughter for a minute or so and then it died down. "Do you maybe want some help?" He inquired.

Malik shrugged and told him to go for it, which he did. Ryou grabbed the now cool pan from the sink and gave it a quick wash before he set it back on the stove. He grabbed a large pot that was hanging over the stove, in the middle of the room, and put it down next to the pan on the burner. He knew exactly what he wanted to make and now just had to find the ingredients for it.

Malik sat back out of the way and watched as Ryou worked at an amazingly fast pace. He was swift in his work and his movements were very smooth, which made cooking seem easy.

Seeing that Ryou was nearly done, Malik pulled two plates down from the cupboard; and silverware and napkins from a draw below the cupboard. He set them out on the worksurface and stood next to Ryou. "What's that Ryou?" He inquired and pointed at he items on the stove.

"That's tomato sauce and that's pasta. We're going to have Spaghetti for lunch, all right?" Malik nodded and leaned back against the base cabinets. He stood out of the way as Ryou came through with the hot cooking pot in his hands. He put the cooked on the plates and then put the sauce on top. It looked as good as it smelled. Not paying attention to where he was now standing, he leaned back on his hand. Suddenly, his hand began to burn. He looked back and saw that his hand was resting on the hot stove. He jumped around flailing his limbs about in pain.

Ryou grabbed a pack of ice from the icebox and grabbed hold of Malik's burnt hand, but was gentle to put the ice on. Malik's eyes teared up and he winced when the ice was piled onto his hand. "Ow…ow…thanks."

Ryou took away the ice and directed Malik to the sink to put it under the cold tap. "You need to be more careful around hot objects…and you're welcome." Ryou looked over the burn for a moment and put his hand back under the running water. "I'll be right back. I'll go find something to take care of that burn." Ryou commented and walked out of the kitchen.

It didn't take Ryou long to find the first-aid kit that was stashed away under Mariku's bed in his room. He returned with it and dragged Malik to the table to tend to his burn. Malik sat down in a chair at the table and Ryou sat down beside him and opened the kit up on the table.

He rummaged through the contents of the white box and found a bottle of burn cream. He removed the cap and applied the cream to the palm of Malik's hand which was burnt very badly. Malik pulled away and winced. "Be careful, that really hurts."

"I know that it hurts, but that is unavoidable. Just try to relax, I will be as careful as I possibly can be." Ryou capped of the bottle and replaced it in the kit.

Malik leaned back in his chair and put his arm over his face, taking a few deep breaths to relax himself. Ryou grabbed a white bandage from the box and as carefully as possible, he wrapped up the burned area and tied off the bandage. "I'm done, Malik." Ryou said and closed up the kit. Malik removed his arm from his face and overlooked the bandages on his hand. He seemed to approve.

"Thanks." Malik leaned forward and pecked Ryou lightly on the cheek. "Where would I be without you?"

Ryou blushed lightly and grinned at Malik in an almost shy way like he usually did. "I am not that important. I'll grab our lunch from the worksurface." Ryou went to do that and returned with the two plates of pasta, setting them down on the table and taking his seat.

They ate their meal in silence and finished at about the same time. Malik told Ryou that he was going to clean up and just as he stood to grab for the dirty dishes the towel on his waist gave way and plummeted to the ground.

His eyes drew wide and his face took on a most red color. He looked up at Ryou who was laughing lightly at the sight of his lover without cover. Malik's eyes watered as he grabbed for his towel and made a run for the flight of stairs and up to his room. Ryou was concerned that his laughter had made Malik feel more embarrassed than he already was.

Well, I shall leave you here on this chapter. I appologize for any spelling errors if there are any because my spell check crap isn't working and I may have missed something if there was anything to miss. Please review when you get a chance. ttyl!


	25. Chapter 28

Oh my goodness! I am so sorry for taking so long to get this up! I was away this last weekend and I had no access to the web or my files or anything. I'm sorry and I'll make it up somehow. Here we go!

The sandy-blonde hikari fled to his bedroom and slammed the door behind himself quite loudly. His face had retained its bright red color and he looked panicked and on the verge of tears. He walked into his rather large closet and slid the mirror door closed. "I can't believe my luck. I just dropped my towel right in front of him…how embarrassing." Malik leaned against the wall and hung his head low in shame.

Then there was a knock on the door and Ryou's kind voice emitted through the sand painted wooden door. "Malik…Are you all right?" He inquired of the other in a most kind and concerned tone.

Malik gasped lightly and peeked out of the closet a short ways. "Um…yeah…" He said sounding still unsure.

"Do you want me to stay out here?"

"He's seen me bare before…why am I suddenly so embarrased?" Malik questioned of himself. "Well…you can come in if you want to." He said sounding more sure. "Are you sure its all right?" Ryou questioned again. Malik confirmed and ducked back into the closet.

Ryou entered slowly and shut the door quietly. He heard the sound of cloth being pushed about in the closet where he assumed Malik was hiding. He sat down on the bed and crossed his legs politely.

Malik rummaged through his wardrobe to find something appropriate to cloth himself in. He had managed to slip on a shirt in the small amount of space he was allowed and was working on getting his jeans on when he tumbled out of the closet when them half zipped.

He stared at Ryou who was sitting on his bed in a most proper manner and was looking at his finger nails. He looked upside down from Malik's point of view. He zipped up his pants the rest of the way and buttoned them quickly.

Ryou looked away from his nails and giggled lightly at the sight of his lover, who had his shirt on backwards and inside out. "Do you need some help straightening out your clothes?" Ryou teased. Malik stood himself up and walked over to the body-length mirror set up in a corner of his bedroom. He turned his back to the mirror and saw that the logo was on the inside of shirt that was backwards on him.

"Yes, please." Ryou stood from the bed and approached him casually. He helped Malik off with the shirt and began turning back outright. He noticed that Malik was shaking quite a bit. "Are you all right, Malik?"

"Hm?" His shaking stopped as he glanced over his shoulder at Ryou.

"You are shaking…or you were."

"It's…its just cold in here…" Malik replied and looked back at his reflection in the mirror. Ryou shrugged and pushed the sleeves outwards. He returned the shirt to Malik who didn't hesitate to put it on as soon as he could.

The sandy-blonde hikari padded over to his bed and fell backwards onto the flowing white sheets and purple comforter. He draped his arms over his face and sighed. Ryou looked at him in a confused manner and crossed his arms. "Are you all right?" Malik peeked through his crossed limbs and shrugged his broad shoulders.

"I don't know…"

Ryou laid down beside him on the bed and rested his head on his arm. "You can tell me." He assured and pushed Malik's arms away from his face. Malik sighed heavily and looked over at Ryou who was staring straight at him without breaking his stare. "Well, I just suddenly feel so nervous around you…as if we had just met or something…"

Ryou lowered his eyes from Malik's and looked rather sorry. "I am sorry I make you feel that way…I don't mean to…" Malik sat up quickly and put his hand on Ryou's shoulder. "I don't blame you, Ryou."

He rubbed the back of his neck and dropped his hands into his lap. "Something feels different, but I don't know what." Malik explained and looked back at Ryou who was contemplating what that could possibly mean.

Still feeling that this was somehow his doing, Ryou stood from the bed and walked towards the door. He opened it, but paused to look back at Malik. "Well, I don't want to make you feel nervous, so, I guess I wll just go home. I will see you later…I guess."

"Ryou," Malik whispered.

"Bye, Malik." He left the room and shut the door on his way out. He exited the large estate and walked down the icy pavement not knowing where to go now. He was sure that Bakura and Mariku had gone to his house, and he wanted in no way to upset either of the destructive forms, so instead he made his way to the park for some alone time.

Malik buried his face in one of the feathery pillows resting at the head of his bed. "I'm such an idiot!" He screamed into his pillow and started throwing things about his room in anger.

The pallid-hair hikari ended up in the park, on one of the benches, somewhere in the more wooded area where it was silent and without existant life at the moment. He leaned back against the cold, wet boards of the bench and stared up at the grayish sky hovering gloomily over the city.

"Bakura?" Mariku said to the form laying with his head on his lap. The thief looked up from Mariku's lap at him. "I need to go home for a short while." Bakura sat up against the headboard and nodded. "All right, whatever. Just don't get into a load of crap, allright?"

"I wont. I'll be back soon." Mariku leaned over to his lover and kissed him on the forehead. Bakura sniveled at the little peck and quarked his fine brow. "What the hell do you call that?"

Mariku seemed confused by his sudden rudeness and besides that didn't know what his lover was saying. "I prefer to do it this way…" Bakura leaned towards Mariku and took his lips to his own for the few seconds he was allowed. Mariku had leaned into it a little more when he had suddenly recalled that he was just about to leave.

Bakura sat back and smirked at Mariku knowing that he wanted to stay the kiss. "You can leave now if you need to." Mariku grinned and scrambled off of the bed. "I do, look at me. I'm still dressed like a nurse." Bakura draped his arms behind his neck and looked Mariku over. "You do. Just go before you change your mind," he teased.

Malik chuckled on his way out of the room, down the stairs, and out of the house. He had almost forgotten to grab his coat on the way out, but made sure he went back into the house to get it before he even dared to walk out into the cold winds.

He walked a steady, but quick pace so as to get him more quickly so he could take the warm shower he had practically dreamt of. He walked up the slippery patheway to the manor. He walked inside easily since the door had been left unbarred.

The sandy-blonde yami hung his coat on the coat rack and walked up the two flights of stairs and had just walked by Malik's. He stopped in his tracks and took a few steps backward to the entrance of Malik's open bedroom. He leaned against the doorway and looked around at the wreck that was his hikari's bedroom. His hikari was face down on his bed and laying there motionless.

"Are you dead yet?" He taunted. "No," Malik frumped into his blankets which muffled his reply. "Whatever then. I'll be in the shower." Mariku walked off without a care in the world and made for his bedroom quite a ways down the egyptian corridor.

The half excited yami opened the two gold doors to his room and was met by a rush of cold air that had been trapped in there for quite some time. He shuddered and then walked in closing his doors behind. He walked over to the bathroom door and opened it. He was very happy to see that his bathroom was untouched and was the same as he remembered it.

He padded over to the bath tub that was about the same size as a jacuzzi and reached over to the knobs. He turned on the water and found a comfortable temperature to run it at. As the water filled the bathe, he began to strip away the hospital scrubs that had small spots of his blood on them. He grabbed a few of his favorite scents from a small cupboard hanging over the bathe and poured them into the water.

As soon as it had filled, he eased himself in and sighed his relief as he slid in as far as his neck and made a funny little happy noise as he quickly became very comfortable. The scent of lavendar and other such scents intoxicated the air and his senses as he inhaled it with each slow breath. He suddenly wished that he had dragged Bakura along so that he too could enjoy the bathe as well.

An hour or so had passed and Mariku had not yet returned from his little trip to house. Bakura had gotten bored waiting around for him and decided to go over to the mansion to retrieve him.

The tomb robber just walked into the house without knocking or anything and walked into the living room where he discovered Malik moping around. The sandy-blonde hikari glanced up at Bakura and seemed surprised to see him and a little embarrassed to be caught acting like this. "What are you doing here, Bakura?"

Bakura said nothing and sat down on the same couch as Malik only on the opposite end from him. "Where is Mariku?" His eyes wandered around the living room without interest in any particular item. "Still in the shower…" Malik replied quite sadly.

Bakura looked over at the more nervous male in an awkward way. "What's wrong with you?" The smaller male was suddenly all over Bakura and crying his eyes out. He clutched Bakura's shirt tightly and sobbed loudly. "I'm so stupid!" He cried out.

"Get the hell off of me!" Bakura detached the raving male's hands from his shirt and thrust him off. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Bakura snapped angrily and pushed his hair out of his face. He looked quite upset with Malik's sudden outburst. "You have to help me!" Malik pleaded with Bakura. "I don't have to help you do a damn thing!" He snapped back at the hikari.

"You have to! I won't be able to confront him ever again!" Malik continued to sob and took hold of Bakura's shirt once again. Bakura threw him off and again and moved to the other couch across the room.

Mariku had finally finished with his shower and had walked downstairs already dressed and looking a lot better, and also feeling that way. He heard someone in the living room sobbing quite loudly. He stepped into the room and saw his hikari sniveling on the ground and Bakura sitting on the couch with an unfavorable look on his features.

"What's going on in here?" Mariku asked out of pure confusion. He did, however, have the idea that there was a confrontation between the two. Malik looked up at his yami with tears in his eyes. He looked so pathetic that Mariku almost felt sorry for him.

"Ryou hates me! I will never be able to talk to him again!" He cried out. Bakura rolled his eyes and stuck up his nose. "I'm glad. I don't want you to rub off on him in any way, shape, or form." Bakura hissed.

Mariku sat down on the couch near his hikari and pulled him close in a very caring way that he had not shown the other for years. "Quiet yourself, Malik. Explain to me what happened."

Malik explained what had happened in vivid detail. Bakura heard it all and looked as if he were going to vomit. Mariku seemed enraptured in his hikari's tale. Once Mariku pulled his hikari up onto the couch beside him and whispered something in his ear.

"Its okay that you were nervous. You rushed into a relationship too fast and merely skipped a few vital steps in courtship. Its understandable that you would act that way. I occassionally feel the same way when I am around Bakura. Do not be hard on yourself or little Ryou." He had whispered.

Malik looked at his yami with distress and worry still in his eyes. Mariku smiled and patted Malik on the head as if he were his pet. "But Mariku, he was so upset when he left."

"It is likely that Ryou also misunderstood what was going on. You should just talk it out with him." Mariku explained for the last time. He stood from the couch and looked to Bakura with a smile on his face.

"I'll be in the kitchen," Mariku began. He noticed that his hikari had practically lit up when he heard those words. "And no, I don't want your help, Malik."

Malik lowered his head and seemed upset that he wasn't to be included. Mariku left the living room and headed to the kitchen and left Malik and Bakura staring at one another.

Bakura glanced away from Malik and began pulling at his entangled white tendrils. The jittery hikari stood and approached Bakura. He reached out and took his silver locks in his hair and carefully began untangling the many snags.

Bakura gently pushed his hands away. "What are you doing?"

"You seemed to be having trouble," Malik said sounding as nervous as ever.

"Don't worry about it, I can do it." Bakura's tone was noticeably softer, which made it sound very welcoming to the other. "I am not inept."

"Fine…" Malik drew back his hands and sat down beside Bakura with his hands in his lap.

"Thanks for your help though…" Bakura regretably said as he untangled the last of the mess. He stood from the couch and exited the living room, turning down the hallway and climbing the tall staircase with Malik in tow.

He could tell that Malik was behind him and was trying his best to ignore him. He turned down the hallway to Mariku's bedroom and opened the door. "Wait, Bakura!" Malik called from behind.

Bakura turned his head back and looked harshly at Malik. "What now?" Malik stood there for a moment, looking at the walls and seeming unsure of what he was doing there.

"Just spare me any of your nonsense, and tell it to someone who cares." Bakura hissed and began to turn away to the room. Just then, Malik darted forward and grabbed Bakura's arm, turning him about and pulled him into a most passionate of kisses.

Bakura threw him back and wiped at his mouth furiously. "What the hell was that for!" He screamed at Malik and gave him a look that said 'I'm going to beat you to a bloody pulp'.

Malik pushed Bakura into the room and shut the door. He threw Bakura back onto his yami's bed and showered his neck with kisses, one after the other. "What the hell is wrong with you, you fucking idiot!" Bakura sat up and tried to force Malik off.

"Shut the hell up!" Malik commanded and took Bakura's lips to his own again. Bakura turned his face away from Malik and again tried to lift him off. "I don't have to do anything you say, and I sure as hell don't have to lay here and take this shit from you."

Bakura pushed Malik off with great force and fell of the bed in the process. Malik was quick to get back onto him and pin him down once again. He was obviously out of control and there was no way Bakura was going to be able to reason with him.

"You bastard!" Bakura cursed and continued to struggle for his freedom. Suddenly, the unlocked door opened and Mariku walked in with a glass of wine in his hand and a plate with a sandwich. "I didn't know if you wanted-"

"Get off of me!" Bakura raged at Malik. Mariku dropped the wine glass and the sandwich. He had a look of shock and horror on his tan skin, which was now growing more pale with each moment that passed.

The glass shattered, leaving a massive stain from the sandwich and beverage. Bakura had not truly realized that his lover had walked in on the both of them, however, he had noticed the other who had just now darted from the room with tears in his eyes.

He found his own strength and threw Malik hard off of himself. He jumped to his feet and kicked him in the side just once. "You have messed everything up!" Malik groaned and rolled onto his front. Bakura dashed out of the room to find his hurt lover.

Well, there you have it! Another chapter. Ta da! I'll have another one done soon, I promise.


	26. Chatper 29

Hello, still sorry about not getting chapters in like I usually do. Oh, and I am so keeping to my promise, no worries. I don't have much to sayso I guess I will catch ya at the bottom.

Mariku was already outside of the mansion and walking quickly down the pavement away from his home. He heard someone calling his name from behind and glanced back to see Bakura running after him. "Mariku! Stop!"

The sandy-blonde yami picked up pace and ran from Bakura. The thief took up chase and was gaining. Suddenly, Mariku slipped on a patch of black ice and went crashing down on the pavement. "Ow…" He moaned and sat up.

Bakura slid to a hault beside Mariku and tried to help him up. Mariku pulled away from Bakura and tried to help himself up. "Don't touch me, Bakura." He hissed and stood up on the ice on the pavement. "You don't understand Mariku!"

"I understand completely. You were bored of me and my hikari was right there for the taking." Mariku deduced. He glared at Bakura and crossed his arms over his chest. Bakura looked at Mariku as if he were the stupidest man alive. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Mariku paced off again and turned down the next street. Bakura went to follow and as he turned the corner he was hit by a very unnaturally strong wind. The thief was unnable to withstand the blast and was thrown back, onto the pavement.

"Damn it, Mariku! Your hikari moved onto me! Why the hell would I dare go against you in such a manner? Give a good reason!" Bakura yelled at Mariku who was not standing far off from him.

"Bakura, just stay away from me!" Mariku returned.

"I didn't do anything, Mariku!" Bakura was able to yell before Mariku disappeared into thin air. Bakura was very upset and wanted to tear off Malik's head.

Mariku appeared in a more open area of the park. He fell to his knees in the cold snow and allowed tears of pain to flood from his violet eyes.

Bakura returned to the mansion and came upon Malik who was sitting on the top step of the stairs in front of the mansion. Bakura stood in a fighting stance and glared at Malik angrily. "Don't you dare come near me you little whelp." Bakura hissed.

"Bakura, I'm sorry…for what I did." Malik said this with a tear in his eye. "Bullshit," Bakura shot back. He sat down on the base step of stairway and looked off into the distance. Malik stood from his step and descended a few before Bakura shot back another evil glance. "Stay the hell away from me, or I'll kill you on the spot and rip your body into hundreds of bloody shreads." He threatened most effectively.

"At least no one knows. It could have been worse."

"You know…I know…and now Mariku knows. If you ever fucking get in my way again, I _will_ kill you and that is no idle threat." Bakura made clear to Malik.

"Fine, I'll get out of your way. If I'm lucky, Mariku will dump your sorry ass, and then I will be the happiest man alive!" Bakura jumped up and struck the other down on the steps. "Don't you ever say anything like that to me!" Bakura yelled. He looked as if he wanted to cry.

"If he is lucky…I will end up killing myself…" Bakura turned and made his way down the steps. Malik sat up and rubbed his aching cheek. "I hope you do!" He yelled from behind.

In the park, Mariku was still knelt down and sobbing in the snow. His hysterical eyes were jaunting about the snow as if one of the tiny crystals had the answer to all of his problems.

Suddenly, a long shadow jutted out and over Mariku's own shadow. He turned his eyes back to the familiar face looming over him. "What are you doing here, Mariku?"

The dark spirit stood out of the snow and brushed it off of his pants and shirt sleeves. "I don't know anymore…" The familiar face directed him to the park bench to join him and talk. Mariku poured his thoughts and feelings out to the other and told him of what he saw in his room.

"There is no way that Bakura would have done that to you. He loves you so very much." The pale-hair returned. "He couldn't possibly love me…look what happened and in my room too." Mariku said sounding most outraged.

"Maybe you misunderstood the situation and came to your own conclusions. Did he bother to try explaining?" The other inquired. Mariku leaned back against the boards and crossed his arms. "He said it was Malik who started it…but…it was just a lie." Mariku said crossly.

"I don't think he would lie about something like this," The pale-hair commented more to himself than to Mariku. The frustrated yami stood from the bench and looked back at the other. "Whatever. If you will excuse me now, Ryou. I have to go kill myself."

He began to walk away in a most depressed fashion, but paused and looked back at Ryou. "Oh yeah, if you see that fucked up bastard, will you tell him that I love him?"

Ryou nodded and promised that he would. Mariku disappeared just as he had come, leaving Ryou all by himself again. The pale-haired hikari knew that he had nothing to worry about because he knew that all of this would work out and everything would be just fine.

Malik had long since left the house to most likely find a bar and for the first time in his life start drinking. This left Bakura alone at the doorstep of the mansion. He fell to his knees. Mariku had appeared just inside and was rummaging through his kitchen for something sharp, hoping it to be a cooking knife.

Bakura was trying his hardest not to burst out in tears and words, but it was far too hard for him to attempt. "Mariku, why can't you fucking believe me?" He screamed very loudly. His echo rang throughout the sky.

Mariku had managed to locate the largest of his cooking knives and just then had heard Bakura's cry just outside his front door. "I'm in love with you Mariku!" Bakura screamed again. Tears formed in Mariku's eyes, which were held back as much as possible. "No, I won't give into his false words…I won't." Mariku convinced himself.

Bakura punched his fist hard into the front doors and his body was trembling. "I love you! I know that you can't hear me, but I don't care anymore! The world can hear me! I love Mariku Ishtar!" He persisted to scream at the peak of his lungs.

"It's a lie…he never loved me…he always hated me…" Mariku lied to himself to block out Bakura's words that were ringing in his mind quite loudly. Feeling emotionally drained by his own words, Bakura walked into the house and shut the door behind himself. He was in tears and his heart felt like it had been torn in half by the other dark spirit. He didn't even know he had a heart until now.

Mariku had been scared off to his bedroom by the noise of the thief clammering into the house. "I thought I locked that damn door." He locked his own doors and pulled the knife from his pants pocket.

Bakura stalked into the kitchen and saw nothing more than a mess. Not thinking well at the moment, he grabbed a knife from one of the left open drawers and slit his wrists, unfortunately in the wrong area. He still wanted to relieve his pain just like old times, before Mariku had insisted that he stop. The wound was bleeding just enough that he fell to the floor and was in a daze.

Mariku had heard the heavy thud from clear downstairs and crept down each floor until he came to the hallway leading to his kitchen. He peered in and saw his lover laying, his arms steeped in blood. His eyes were large and his breathing was heavy. Mariku flipped back around the corner and his heart was racing. "He's here…" He thought to himself. Mariku yearned to help Bakura, but his broken heart continued to repeat that this was all a lie and that the thief should die.

"I never realized that…I might have been the one destroying your life…" Bakura whispered to himself referring to his lover. Mariku slid down the wall and made a loud thud noise when he reached the floor. He was in tears just as Bakura was. "You haven't destroyed my life," Mariku thought to himself.

Bakura had heard the noise with his sharp sense of hearing. He tried to get up, but was having some trouble doing so. His body was growing numb with pain. Mariku dropped his arms to the floor in a limp way and sobbed more.

The thief forced himself to stand and walked to the doorway of the kitchen. He leaned against the door frame and looked down to see Mariku leaning there and crying so hard that his eyes were red and his face was already tear-stained. "Didn't I tell you that crying was not your thing?"

"Shut up…" Mariku wiped at his tears. Bakura's legs were shaking uncontrollably. He was trying to put a strong front just for Mariku. "Think of this…..at least you won't have to listen to me critisize you anymore…" His tear-stains were visible and the tears were beginning all over again.

"I hope that you will now be able to go on with your life….I guess I will leave you now…you don't want to hear what I have to say…but before I do, I have to say…that I love you…" With those words finally off of his chest, he proceeded to slowly make for the door which now seemed so very far away even though it was only a few feet away.

Mariku's body trembled as rage filled him. He leapt from the floor and ran towards Bakura, shoving him roughly against the wall. Bakura crumbled to the floor from the blow and looked up at Mariku. The keeper grabbed Bakura's blood-stained wrists and healed him using his dark magic.

Mariku laid down on the floor in front of Bakura and sobbed into his hands. He was really upset about everything and couldn't believe that he had just saved him when he wanted to hate him so much. He peered through his fingers and Bakura who was just staring at him. "Are…are you all right?" he sobbed.

"No…you stopped me…" Bakura returned.

"And why shouldn't I have?" Mariku griped.

"Everything would be better for you if you didn't have to deal with me."

Mariku sat up on his knees and gripped the collar of Bakura's shirt, pressing him tightly against the wall. Bakura was too weak to do anything and just didn't say anything. "You have no idea what the hell I want or what is good for me!" He yelled at Bakura directly.

"Bakura stared straight into Mariku's with his piercing gaze, "What is it that you want then?"

Mariku thrust himself forward and kissed Bakura roughly on the lips. He leaned back not far from Bakura's face and looked down. "I just want you…" He leaned forward on Bakura's chest and sobbed lightly, sniffling once or twice as well. Bakura's body began to slid down the wall as he could not hold himself up. Mariku sat up and held Bakura in place against the wall.

"You sick, stupid bastard. I've told you before not to injure yourself." Mariku said sounding almost playful, like everything was back to normal, and nothing had ever happened between them. "Just shut up and let me kiss you, you ass hole." Bakura drew him back to his lips.

Mariku could feel Bakura's body and how it felt weak. He pulled away, not actually wanting to and sat back on his legs. "I think you need to lay down and rest." He said with concern for his weak lover. "Oh, so _now _you give me a break?" He said jokingly.

"Haha, you are so very funny." Mariku returned sarcastically.

"Whatever…just help me up."

Well, there is another chapter from yours truly. _Hopefully_, I can get another chapter in by tomorrow. I did keep my promise by the way. Catch ya later.


	27. Chapter 30

Back for another chapter, eh? I knew you couldn't resist my hypnotic writing powers. Haha, jk. Here we go!

Mariku had taken Bakura up to his bedroom and put him into bed to rest. The sandy-blonde noted the blade sitting on his nighstand and shoved it away in the drawer of the bedside stand. He pulled the covers up over Bakura and laid next to him on the bed.

The tomb robber just laid there and stared out the window. Suddenly, he felt the warm sensation of Mariku's lips on the nape of his neck. The thief turned towards his lover and returned the favor as his own pair charted its own course on Mariku's neck.

The keeper brought Bakura's lips to his own longing pair and kissed him intensly. His hands wandered up and down the begging thief's sides under his shirt. He reached down for the other pants with a smirk on his lips.

Bakura reached down and took hold of his hands. "You have to wait." Mariku took him again without second thought. The thief was too occupied to notice that his lover had reached to the nightstand and had pulled something from the drawer.

Suddenly, a seering pain coursed through him from his torso. He fell back on the bed clutching his stomach in pain. He looked back at Mariku who was standing at the end of the bed with a bloodied kitchen knife in his hand.

Bakura was in terrible pain and there was a crimson stain everywhere, even Mariku was saturated in his blood. Bakura was on the edge and fell backwards off of the bed. Mariku hovered over him with a sly grin on his face. "I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" He said with sarcasm heavy on his tone.

"What the fuck was that for?" bakura gasped for air as he felt his chest tighten. He lifted his blurred vision to the keeper that hovered over him and was laughing at his expense. "I'm tired of playing with you. I'm bored. Later," He said and walked towards the door.

The form's face changed between two, Mariku's and Malik's. Bakura was horrified and confused. "See you in hell, Bakura." He smirked and disappeared into thin air.

"Bakura…" A whisper filled the mansion and Bakura could hear it, his name was being called, but from where? He peered down at his blood stained hands and appeared to be on the verge of tears. "Bakura….wake up…." The voice echoed.

The thief opened his chocolate eyes and through blurred vision made out a human life form. His head was aching terribly. "Come on, Bakura. Wake up already." The voice echoed in his head.

His vision cleared and he saw Mariku hovering over him, and was holding a cloth to his aching head. He was dabbing at his forehead with the wet cloth and had the thief's head propped up on his lap. "Are you all right, Bakura? You were jerking about and at first I thought you were having seizures." Mariku smiled out the corner of his mouth at his lover.

Bakura winced slightly and reached up to his forehead to only feel a large swollen mass developing. "Sorry," Mariku appologized and tried to dab at the mass more carefully.

"What happened?" Bakura inquired groggily. Mariku set the cloth aside in the bowl of cold water that he had rushed upstairs with. "As I said before, you were twitching about and you rolled right off of the bed and smacked your forehead on the nightstand. I thought you weren't going to wake up." Mariku explained.

Mariku poked at the large bruised mass on Bakura's forehead. "That's a pretty ugly lump on your head." Bakura pushed his hand away. "Knock it off," he said most agitatedly. "Is something wrong? You seem upset or something." Mariku inquired of the perturbed robber.

"It's nothing…"

"Fine, I won't pry into your business." Mariku pushed Bakura's head off of his lap and walked downstairs with the bowl of water and cloth. He set the dish in the sink and stalked into the living room, throwing himself onto the couch and turning on the television to watch something.

He flipped through the channels and came across the Jerry Springer Show, which he had never actually watched and it so far seemed to be interesting. He sighed deeply and got comfortable on the couch as he watched the guests of the show fight between one another.

Bakura meanwhile was up in Mariku's room still thinking about the horrible nightmare he had encountered during his sleep. It felt so real that at first he never would have guessed that it was just a dream. He made his way downstairs and stopped in the living room where Mariku was watching with interest flaring in his eyes as he listened to the booming speakers and the fighting. "That's right, you tell that whore!" He yelled at the television.

Bakura sat next to Mariku on the couch. The keeper was wary of him and turned down the sound of the speakers. "I'm sorry, is the noise giving you a headache?" Bakura shook his head and leaned back into the leather couch.

"Do you want to know what I was dreaming about?" He inquired nervously of the other. Mariku turned off the television and sat up on the furniture. "Huh? This is all over a dream?" He rubbed the back of his neck and looked at Bakura who seemed like he was uneasy and confused. "Well, I don't wna to pry and make you uncomfortable, even thought that is my greatest pass time," he joked.

Bakura gave him an uninterested look. "Eh, what the hell," Mariku commented quickly. Bakura sighed and thought of a place to begin. He thought that he might as well explain the whole dream and not only the most grusome bits of the nightmare alone.

"Well, you and I were up in your bed and we started kissing one another in a playful way." Mariku snickered at the very thought. "How is that such a nightmare?"

Bakura glared at him for joking while he was trying to unload his dream onto the other. "Just shut up and listen. Anyways, we were just getting into it when you stabbed me with a kitchen blade. I was dying and you said you were bored of me. Then suddenly, your face changed back and forth between your own and Malik's. You had left me to die."

Mariku was surprised that Bakura had had such a vivid dream and about something as busy as that. Mariku brushed Bakura's hair from his eyes and back behind his ears. "Well, thank god it was only a dream right? I mean, I would never do anything as serious as that to you." Mariku explained.

"I know you wouldn't," Bakura returned. He actually smiled a normal smile. Not an evil one; or a sexy one, even though any smile he gave was sexy; and not even a freaky one, it was actually normal.

Mariku looked really surprised that Bakura was this docile. It was unlike him to ever be this way. "Did you really smack your head that hard?" Bakura smile disappeared and again came the uninterested look that he was quite fond of giving. "Hmph…I'm never smiling again and I'm going to be an ass hole for the rest of my life."

"No, no, no. I don't mind, its just that you were actually smiling in a normal way and for a moment there you seemed so loving and understanding. That's just not like you."

"Whatever," Bakura replied coldly and stood from the couch. "Its nice to see you this way…" He whispered. Bakura heard him and glanced back at Mariku as if he were the one with the lump on his forehead.

"He should get smacked on the head more often," Mariku thought to himself and was unaware that his face had taken on a light hue of red.

Bakura was still weak from when he had attempted suicide earlier, and was showing signs of collapsing. Mariku leapt up from the couch and caught him as he began to fall. "I'm fine," Bakura hissed.

"I think you need to go lay down." Mariku suggested.

"No, I don't…"

"You do." Mariku gave him a very evil look as he said this.

"No." Bakura gave him an equally evil look.

"Yes," Mariku said giving him an even more frightening and threatening look. Bakura knew this could go on for hours, and at the moment he was not interested in squabbling with the other over something as stupid as getting a little bit of rest.

"Fine, just get off my back." He surrendered.

"That's what I thought you would say," he said with a grin on his face.

I know this is a short chapter, and I appologize for that, but I am having a hard time thinking of what to write at the moment. Laterz!


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